Success
is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached
in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying
to succeed.
Booker
T. Washington
THE
ROYCE GRACIE BOOK IS HERE!!!
Royce Gracie,
THE MAN who introduced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the World with
his three Ultimate Fighting Championship wins - is joined by
his cousin Charles Gracie to teach over 100 street-smart self-defense
techniques including stick, knife and gun defenses. Co-authored
with Kid Peligro, this book contains over 400 color photos displaying
effective self-defense techniques perfected by the Gracie Family
for the past 75 years.
This collector's
item is a must have for anyone interested in self-defense. As
a bonus there are over 30 personal archives photographs of the
Gracies.
World Boxing
Champion Oscar De La Hoya says: 'I can tell from a fighter's
perspective that Royce Gracie is the baddest man on the planet.
If everyone trained like Royce, they'd all be World Champions.'
Actor Nicholas
Cage says: 'Over the past year and a half I have trained with
Royce Gracie and have come to know him as a friend. I can tell
you that this man, who is perhaps the most talented martial artist
in the world, is a down to earth, considerate person whose focus
on health in the mind and body has inspired me greatly in my
own life and work.' This product is available at the Fightworld.com
now for pre-order with an expected shipping date of Septemer
19th.
Now offered
at the Fightworld Store for $27.95 + S&H. www.fightworld.com
For a limited
time a special introductory offer: Buy Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Self-Defense
Techniques and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Theory and Technique together
for only $50.00 + S&H.
Okay guys, the
wait is over! The Renzo Gracie no-gi submission grappling tapes
completely available for ordering. This is a 4-Tape instructional
set that covers a ton of never seen before techniques. The tapes
themselves are:
Tape #1: 'The
Guard Part 1'
Tape #2: 'The Guard Part 2'
Tape #3: 'Across side from Top'
Tape #4: 'Across Side from the Bottom'
This set without
question will help your game.
These techniques
are taught in complete detail by Renzo Gracie with the assistance
of Grapplers Quest Superfight Champion, Pride, UFC and Abu Dhabi
veteran, Ricardo Almeida. If you ever wondered why Team Renzo
has an undefeated Team record, boasting Ten consecutive Grapplers
Quest and Copa Atlantica Team Championships, this tape series
will show you in living color.
A friend of ours is looking for some used home mats that are
roughly 10'x10'. If you know of where you can get some mats for
this gentleman, please shoot us an email. He is doing a good thing for the community.
Here's his request.
Some
high school youths have been interested in learning some wrestling/grappling.
I had use of the wrestling room at Leilehua, but recently had
to give it up for other school business. The youths want to continue
working out and I really have no mats available to do so. I was
wondering if you know of any place on Oahu that sells used mats
(either wrestling or the fold-up sectionals).
Thank
you for your time.
The
Hawaii Martial Arts International Society
2003 4th Annual Hall of Fame Awards Banquet
Legends - Masters Seminar - Martial Arts Tournament
Las Vegas , Nevada - USA July 12 & 13, 2003 Sahara Hotel
& Casino
Plan
your summer vacation to Las Vegas and meet and study with many
of the Legends and Grandmasters in the Martial Arts!
SEMINAR:
The Legends - Masters Seminar will be held on July 12, 2003 at
The Sahara Hotel & Casino in Las vegas, Nevada - USA. The
first three (3) hours of the seminar will feature all the grandmasters,
legends and pioneers in the martial arts from Hawaii and abroad,
who will each show 5 different techniques before the actual seminar
begins. Each class will be one (1) hour in duration - hands on
training in many different styles and systems. Participants (pre-register
only) at the seminar will recieve a program, and a event T-shirt.
BANQUET:
The 4th Annual Hall of Fame Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday
evening, July 12, 2003 at the Sahara Hotel & Casino Golden
Ballroom. This is the event you don't want to miss!!! Many of
the legends will be present. Visit our website in the Hall of
Fame section to nominate those you feel is worthy to be inducted.
Banquet tickets will not be sold at the door - advance sale only.
TOURNAMENT:
The Hawaii Martial Arts International Society will host it's
first Tournament on Sunday, July 13, 2003. There will be an Open
Martial Arts, Filipino Stick Fighting, Sports Jujitsu, and Sambo
Tournament. All contestants will be rated nationally under the
HMAS and listed in our website and soon, our very on magazine
distributed worldwide. For Rules, Registrations, Spectors informations,
Schedules, visit out website for updates. Participants (pre-register
only) in the tournament will receive a program, and a event t-shirt.
If
you know of someone who is worthy of being inducted into The
Hawaii Martial Arts International Society Hall of Fame and wish
to nominate that person, please visit our website in the Hall
of Fame (ballot) at www.hmasociety.com All 2003 Inductee's will
recieve the Hawaii Martial Arts International Society - Hall
of Fame Member Ring and a Certificate of Induction in a special
folder case. (see picture)
RESERVATIONS:
The Sahara Hotel & Casino will give all who book their reservations
at the Sahara a discount. You will need to call the Sahara Hotel
& Casino and mention the Hawaii Martial Arts International
Society to receive the special group rates. 1-888-696-2121. You
will not get this discount if you register online. You must call
in to get this special group rates. Reservations for this group
rates will be available August 15th of 2002 to June 11th, 2003.
For
more information about the martial arts tournament, please keep
checking our website for updated information or call (808) 271-0225.
Tournament rules & applications will be posted.
2003
Hawaii Martial Arts International Society events is being set-up
right now!!! Plan your vacation now and meet and study with many
of the legends and grandmasters in the martial arts!!!
GENERAL
INFORMATION
EVENT
CHAIRMAN:
Prof. Jaime Abregana Jr.
P.O.Box 2106
Ewa Beach, HI 96706 - USA
(808) 271-0225 hmasociety@yahoo.com
EVENT
DATE:
July 12 & 13, 2003
EVENT
LOCATION:
Sahara Hotel & Casino - Golden Ballroom
2535 Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109 - USA
EVENT
LODGING:
Sahara Hotel & Casino
Deadline: June 2003
You Must call in and mention The Hawaii Martial Arts Society
to recieve your special rates.
(888) 696-2121
AIRPORT
& AIRPORT SHUTTLE:
McCarran Airport Shuttles & Taxis Available to and from Airport
24 hours.
LEGEND
& MASTERS SEMINAR:
Pre-Regstration:
Non-Members $100.00
Members $90.00
AT THE DOOR:
Non-Members $110.00
Members &100.00
All pre-registered will recieve an event T-shirt, Patch and Event
program.
HALL
OF FAME AWARDS BANQUET:
Banquet tickets are pre-sold only. No banquet tickets will be
sold during the event. Includes Dinner, Awards Ceremony and Entertainment.
Pre-registration only!!
Banquet Tickets: $65.00
SEMINAR
& BANQUET PACKAGE DEAL:
Pre-Registration:
Non-Members: $150.00
Members: $130.00
Includes Event T-Shirt, Patch, Event Program & Tournament
Pass.
TOURNAMENT/COMPETITOR
FEE:
Pre-Register
(first Event): $30.00
At the Door: (First Event): $35.00
Pre-Register (Each Additional): $10.00
At the Door: (Each Additional): $15.00
******
DEADLINE FOR PREREGISTRATION IS MAY 15, 2003*****
SCHEDULE
OF EVENTS
July
11, 2003 Meeting
Board Meeting: TBA
Officials Meeting: TBA
July
12, 2003 Legends & Masters Seminar
Registration: 7:00am to 8:00am
Bow-In: 8:00am to 8:30am
Seminar Starts: 9:00am
July
12, 2003 Hall of Fame Awards Banquet
Golden Ballroom: 6:00pm
July
13, 2003 Tournament
Registration: July 12, 2003 9:00am to 2:00pm
Registration: July 13, 2003 8:00am to 9:30am
Tournament Starts: 10:00am
**********
ALL EVENTS WILL BE HELD IN THE GOLDEN BALLROOM**********
CAN
THE 'BEAT THE STREETS' PROGRAM TRANSFORM WRESTLING IN AMERICA?
(Part Two)
By: Eddie Goldman
There
once was a time, almost forgotten it seems, that New York City
was one of the capitals of wrestling in America. According to
wrestling historian Mike Chapman's authoritative Encyclopedia
of American Wrestling, 'The first Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)
'national tournament' was held in New York City in 1888, with
just two weight classes contested.' (p. 2)
College
wrestling, interestingly enough, also got its start in New York
City. 'It is generally agreed,' Mike also wrote, 'that the first
dual meet in the United States took place on March 21, 1903,
when Yale University traveled to New York City to tangle with
Columbia University. The meet ended in a 2-2 tie.' (ibid.)
And
in the early days of professional wrestling, when it still had
real athletic contests (just how much is a point still debated
today), what is believed to be the last legitimate heavyweight
championship professional wrestling match took place on Jan.
30, 1920, in Madison Square Garden. In a marathon match, Joe
Stecher pinned Earl Caddock in 2 hours and five minutes, using
a body scissors and a wristlock for the pin. Stecher thus recaptured
the world heavyweight wrestling championship, which he dropped
to Caddock in 1917. A film of this match still exists, and is
available on videotape and on display at the International Wrestling
Institute and Museum in Newton, Iowa.
Yet
all this was in another age, before radio or television, before
talking pictures became prominent, before the construction of
Yankee Stadium, and before the explosion of popularity in a plethora
of professional sports. Today, in the first few years of the
21st Century, wrestling in the urban areas such as New York remains
weak, its history virtually unknown, and the word 'wrestling'
itself appropriated by the charlatans, clowns, and steroid-bloated
freaks of a company whose initials should stand for Wicked Witless
Excrement.
When
I spoke with Bill Crum, executive director of the Metropolitan
Wrestling Association, and the leading force behind the 'Beat
The Streets' urban initiative program, he had a lot to say about
the weakness of wrestling in urban areas like New York, and how
to remedy that.
'I
think one of the problems is,' he argued, 'anybody, we all did
it, even us wrestlers when we were little kids, we had nothing
to do in the afternoon, we went to our closet and we grabbed
a basketball, went outside, and found a hoop, and you shot. That's
all you needed. You didn't even need another person to be involved
with.
'Wrestling,'
he continued, 'is a different type of skill sport. Number one,
you need a partner about your size, approximately your size in
order to even just fool around with it. And number two, you really
need, for it to be real successful, you need to have an organized
group to do it. And I think that's where things fell off. The
leadership, not just in the sport, but in the education system,
and in the public sector, basically just made other choices in
the city. It was easier to move towards some other sports where
there was just easier [in terms of] accessibility, and kids could
just sort of play by themselves. I mean, a sandlot pick-up baseball
game. It's easy to do something like that. Play a game of touch
football. What do you want to do, two-on-two, three-on-three,
four-on-four, five-on-five? It doesn't make any difference to
play a game of touch football. Wrestling, you need to get that
organized aspect to it. You need a coach. You need a facility.
You need a mat.'
Another
example of this making of 'other choices in the city' by those
in the educational sector can also be seen in what happened to
the last Olympic gold medalist wrestler that came from New York,
Henry Wittenberg. He never wrestled in high school, but got his
start in the sport in the late 1930s at the City College of New
York (CCNY). He later went on to wrestle in the national freestyle
wrestling tournaments, winning eight years in a row. In 1948,
Wittenberg won an Olympic gold medal in freestyle at 191.5 lbs.,
and a silver in 1952. He later became a coach at Yeshiva and
CCNY for over two decades. Wittenberg currently lives in upstate
New York.
Yeshiva
still has a wrestling team, although it is not very competitive.
CCNY, probably the best-known of the CUNY (City University of
New York) schools, no longer does. In fact, there is only one
school left in the CUNY system that has wrestling, Hunter College,
which fields a Div. III team.
New
York's culture and population has changed in the decades since
wrestling took center stage. Wrestling is a sport that require
toughness, both physically and mentally. It requires a lot of
physical work, something to which people from working class and
farm backgrounds easily adapt. As New York's economy became less
based in industry and more in services and retail, that toughness
seemed to fade away. But with a new wave of immigrants in the
past decade or so, many of those working class traditions are
being revived, and many of the school children, either immigrants
themselves of kids of immigrants, are showing more interest in
sports like wrestling.
But
when I brought up these points to Bill, he added that it would
be a mistake to limit appealing to just one section of the population
to broaden wrestling's popularity.
'I
think it's been so many generations ago now that the decline
happened,' he said, 'as you said the last big match was in 1920,
that we've still got a very strong working class population in
the City. I think it's just a question of exposing them to the
sport and letting the sport take hold. It will develop a life
of its own. It does in the strangest places. I know you mention
a lot of the rural areas, a lot of the blue collar areas. But
it happens in some of the wealthy areas of the country as well.
Just go across the river in New Jersey. You go to Millburn. Millburn
has a strong wrestling tradition and one of the highest per capita
incomes in the United States. But I think the important thing
is to get it, is we need to get the sport of wrestling out there
in the public eye. And I think once parents realize what it's
doing for their kids, it'll grab, it'll take hold, and it'll
develop a life of its own. If it doesn't, we can't develop a
life for it. It has to develop a life of its own, and it'll prosper.'
Note:
We intended to continue this series on the 'Beat The Streets'
program sooner. However, the news of the U.S. wrestling team
deciding to skip the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships
took precedence. We thus will continue it when we can, in-between
summaries of that just-concluded event, previews of the World
Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships, which will take place on
September 20-22, in Moscow, Russia, and other wrestling news.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
9/9/02
Quote
of the Day
When
one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long
and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the
ones which open for us.
Alexander
Graham Bell
Kid
Peligro Jiu-Jitsu News . . . International Masters and Seniors
etc
The International Masters and Seniors Tournament took place this
past Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. Quick word from there is that
evergreen Wellington 'Megaton' Dias won his division Gold. Other
results have Fabio Santos taking Gold as well while Texan Terror
Pat 'Hawck' also carrying the Golden Medal home.
Congratulations
to all and more details to follow.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
IRAN
WINS WORLD FREESTYLE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS ON LAST DAY
By: Eddie Goldman
After
three days of competition by 178 wrestlers representing 42 countries,
the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships came to a close
Saturday. Held in Tehran's jammed Azadi Sports Complex, which
had crowds of 14,000 and 15,000 packing into the 12,000-seat
arena, the home country of Iran pulled out the team championship
on the final day.
Iran
finished with one gold, with Mehdi Hadjizadeh taking it at 74
kg on Saturday. Ali Reza Heidari of Iran took second place at
96 kg on Saturday, giving Iran its second silver in as many days
after Ali Reza Dabir finished second at 66 kg on Friday. Majid
Khodaee took bronze at 84 kg on Friday, and Mohammed Talaee finished
fourth at 60 kg on Saturday.
This
was the fourth time Iran has won the World Freestyle Wrestling
Championships. Iran had previously won in 1961 in Yokohama, in
1965 in Manchester, and in 1998, also in Tehran.
Russia
finished second in the team race, crowning two world champions,
with David Musulbes winning gold at 120 kg on Saturday, after
Adam Saitiev took gold on Friday at 74 kg.
Rounding
out the gold medal winners on Saturday were Harun Dogan of Turkey
at 60 kg and Eldar Kurtanidze of Georgia at 96 kg. Cuba, which
had one gold and two silver medals, and was leading the team
race on Friday, finished third.
Here
are the results from the medal matches from the 2003 World Freestyle
Wrestling Championships:
96
kg
Gold - Eldar Kurtanidze (Georgia) dec. Ali Reza Heidari (Iran),
2-0 ref. dec., OT
Bronze - Vadim Tasoev (Ukraine) dec. Alexandre Xanthopoulos (Greece),
10-0
120
kg
Gold - David Moussoulbes (Russia) dec. Alexis Rodriguez (Cuba),
5-0, OT, 6:04
Bronze - Aydin Polatci (Turkey) dec. David Otiashvili (Georgia),
10-0
Note:
Information in this report is taken from various news reports
and web sites, including the site of the Iranian Wrestling Federation,
http://www.iranwrestling.org, as well as by watching
the live webcast of the event.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
DEEP
2002 - 6th Impact
September 7, 2002
Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan
Kazuki Okubo
defeats Shoichi Ichimiya by Submission (Armbar) 2:41 R1
Ryo Chonan defeats Katsumi Usuta by TKO (Strikes) 0:05 R1
Yasuhito Namekawa defeats Max Miyazawa by Submission (Guillotine
Choke) 2:37 R3
Joao Roque defeats Ryan Bow Decision (Majority) 3 rounds
Dos Caras defeats Tatsuaki Nakano by Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
4:05 R1
Fabio Mello defeats Takumi Yano by Decision (Unanimous) 3 rounds
Ryuki Ueyama defeats Gilson Ferreira by Submission (Armbar) 3:49
R3
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeats Tsuyoshi Kohsaka by Decision
(Unanimous) 3 rounds
Dokonjonosuke Mishima defeats Takafumi Ito by Submission (Armbar)
0:53 R1
Kiyoshi Tamura defeats Ikuhisa Minowa by Decision (Unanimous)
3 rounds
Source: Sherdog
9/8/02 Updated with pictures at 11:40PM
Quote
of the Day
"The
true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him
absolutely no good."
Ann Landers
Maui's
Warriors of the Ring Results
WARRIORS
OF THE RING
War Memorial Gymnasium, Wailuku, Maui
September 7, 2002
by Chris Onzuka - Chris@Onzuka.com
The haze is from the entry
smoke machine. There has been only one MMA
event on Maui, until now. Warriors of the Ring launched its debut
event and allowed Maui MMA fans the avenue to stop reading about
the events on Oahu and actually go see one live. It also provided
Maui fighters a chance to get more experience. This event drew
the largest crowd ever to attend a mixed martial arts event in
Maui. The crowd loved the action and were treated to interviews
with BJ Penn, Cabbage Correira, both of which are going to be
fighting in the next UFC, Falaniko Vitale and Ron Jhun during
the intermission. The event brought in a lot of fighters making
their MMA debut and mixed the card with some fighters with one
or two matches under their belt that have shown a lot of promise.
A few of the fighters that look to be ready to take it to the
next level are Bull's Pen fighter Mark Moreno who has been knocking
out his opponents as if he is going to get a bulk discount. Michael
Labuanan and Tyson Coloma Nahooikaika look to have a good stand
up game coupled with solid ground work to back it up. And finally,
one fighter that was impressive, even in defeat, was Ed Joy.
Don't let his team name fool you, he showed great stand up and
ground skills against the larger Kerisiano. I definitely look
forward to seeing Joy fight again. The large crowd proves that
MMA is growing on a grassroots level on Maui. Hopefully the crowds
keep getting bigger and allow these events to grow. As for me,
it is always fun to fly out to Maui and see my friends on Maui
and sitting next to two of the ring girls on the way to Maui
didn't hurt either (wink, wink). Kitty, Bernie &
Kuipo
Bake Huttendorf (5'9",
176 lbs., Kodenkan) def. Kruz Malaiakini (5'9", 185 lbs.,
Team Koali Freestyle Fighting, Hana, Maui)
Submission via arm bar at 3:32 minutes of Round 1.
Ray "King Kong" Seraile
(6'3", 270lbs, Grappling Unlimited) def. Jesus Libero (6'3",
259 lbs., Wailuku Kickboxing)
TKO, Libero suffered a separated shoulder at 1:10 minutes of
Round 1.
Mark Moreno (5'9", 175
lbs., Bulls Pen) def. George Mendoza (5'8", 163 lbs., Scalera
Foundation)
TKO, referee stoppage due to punch (second time that Mendoza
was knocked down.) at 1:53 minutes of Round 1.
William Armstrong (5'5",
131 lbs., 808 Fight Factory) def. Tien Nguyen (5'5", 133
lbs., Wailuku Kickboxing)
Submission via arm bar from the mount at 3:17 minutes of Round
1.
Dez Minor (6'0", 213 lbs.,
Kodenkan) def. Anthony Billianor (6'3", 259 lbs., Lockdown
Unlimited) def.
TKO, referee stoppage due to strikes at 1:49 minutes of Round
1.
Tripston Kerisiano (5'7",
175 lbs., 808 Fight Factory) def. Ed Joy (5'8", 163 lbs.,
Team C.O.C.K.*)
Unanimous decision [(7-3), (7-3), (6-4)] after 2 Rounds.
* C.O.C.K. stands for Come Over & Catch Kracks
Michael Labuanan (5'7",
164 lbs., Maui Full Contact) def. Cheyenne Alesna (5'8",
169 lbs., Kodenkan)
TKO, verbal submission by Alesna due to exhaustion at 3:06 minutes
of Round 2
Tyson Coloma Nahooikaika (5'8",
161 lbs., Brazilian Freestyle J.J./Luis Heredia J.J.) def. Corey
Goeas (5'8", 170 lbs., Kodenkan)
TKO, referee stoppage due to strikes at 1:51 minutes of Round
1. There was some controversy
over the stoppage due to Corey Goeas' caught in the ropes. In
the second picture, you can see Goeas' arm caught in the cross
tie.
No-nonsense
self-defense aims to stop in-air terrorists, no matter what it
takes
By Jason Genegabus - jason@starbulletin.com
Tuesday, August 20, 2002 DEAN SENSUI
/ DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ray Downing and other "AIRCREWSURVIVAL" class members
practice a right-handed hammer blow. The self-defense class is
geared toward airline flight crews and frequent fliers.
IMAGINE
for a minute that you're on an airplane leaving Los Angeles for
Honolulu, just a few minutes after takeoff. After running the
gauntlet from ticketing through airport security and on to the
boarding gate, you're relieved to
finally be in the air and on your way to paradise.
Suddenly,
a commotion breaks out a few rows back; someone who managed to
sneak a knife onboard just stabbed a passenger and is making
his way toward you with similar intentions. Are you ready to
protect yourself?
A few short years ago this scenario would have been hard to believe.
But following the events of last September's terrorist attacks,
a hostage situation at 30,000 feet is a very real threat that
Mike Young and Dr. Wes Young (they are not related) are working
hard to prepare airline employees for.
The
two have partnered to present "AIRCREWSURVIVAL," a
self-defense program designed to provide an effective, no-nonsense
method of disarming and subduing unruly passengers or potential
terrorists.
DEAN SENSUI
/ DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Self-defense
instructor Mike Young taught flight attendant Heather Moore how
to deliver an effective knee strike into someone's mid-section.
"It's not sweet or gentle ... this is life-and-death stuff
we're talking about," said Wes. A former deputy sheriff,
the emergency physician and flight surgeon has "taken care
of pilots and flight attendants for over 20 years.
"It's been real clear to me that (the airlines) have not
yet stepped up to the plate in terms of equipping air crews with
tools that will save their lives," he said.
Wes
teamed with long-time friend Mike Young, who is the head martial
arts trainer at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The former Hawaii resident's 34 years of martial arts experience
as a competitor, trainer, author and magazine writer have exposed
him to a variety of fighting styles and techniques, the best
of which he will share Saturday.
"We
don't have time for the peripheral things," said Mike. "The
flight attendants are the ones who are right out there. You have
to give them the tools and make them feel safe ... you've got
to give them something that works.
"And
it's sad to say, (but) the things that work are not politically
correct or warm and fuzzy," he said.
DEAN SENSUI
/ DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Amy Brown
applies a choke hold to instructor Mike Young. "The flight
attendants are the ones who are right out there," Young
said. "You have to give them the tools and make them feel
safe."
Designed
for emergency situations on a commercial aircraft, "AIRCREWSURVIVAL"
focuses on hand-to-hand combat in close quarters using a variety
of objects. At the last workshop, held in July, items commonly
found on a commercial flight, such as a wine bottle and corkscrew,
were spread out on a table. "The class is designed to open
your mind a bit," said Mike Young as he explained the rules
to fighting in a plane. The first rule? Fight to win.
Mike
doesn't waste much time with theory, nor does he worry that some
of the workshop's participants have never had a day of martial
arts training in their lives. One of the first moves he demonstrates
is a deadly strike to the face, complete with a photograph of
the blow's graphic after-effects.
"Some
of the techniques we show, you normally can't see until you're
a black belt in some styles" of martial arts, Mike explains.
"But we show it right away because we see the necessity
for it in this environment."
The
people seated in front of Mike nod in understanding before he
admonishes them to stand up and try the move themselves. Two
of the women attending last month's session square off against
each other, as Mike works with the workshop's lone male participant.
A lot of giggling ensues as the women practice the move, prompting
the question: How much can you really absorb during a single
four-hour workshop?
"The
truth is, it's really very unlikely that a 100-pound female black
belt in karate is going to do in a determined 200-pound guy,"
said Wes. "But what it does do, with training and skill,
is take that person from zero ability to survive to maybe 50
percent or 75 percent. It might be enough."
Mike
also acknowledges that the workshop alone isn't enough for those
in attendance. "After (this) four-hour course, these guys
-- I'd put them against any average Joe Blow terrorist and I'd
bet you they'd do OK. ... (But) they've got to constantly train,
re-train and practice."
THOSE
WHO have attended "AIRCREWSURVIVAL" have had nothing
but good things to say about the techniques presented to them.
Tim Alentiev, a pilot for Northwest Airlines who attended the
first workshop, explained his motivation as "wanting to
know what to do if attacked in the cockpit with my back to the
door." Alentiev walked away with a number of "techniques
for the close quarters of the cockpit which I feel will be very
effective."
DEAN SENSUI
/ DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Mike Young
demonstrated the basics of a “heel palm strike” to
the class. “Some of the techniques we show, you normally
can’t see until you’re a black belt in some styles,”
Young said. “But we show it right away because we see the
necessity for it in this environment.”
Heather
Moore, a flight attendant from another airline, said the workshop
went above and beyond what was offered by her employer.
"I think we need something more like this," she said.
"That's why I think a lot of people are going out and taking
martial arts on their own."
While
Moore had no previous fighting experience, she said that Mike
helped her to get "the essential movements and the ideas"
behind the different self-defense techniques. "This is good
for everyday use ... to me, this is more practical -- stuff you
can use."
WHILE
Saturday's morning session will be limited to flight attendants,
commercial airline pilots and aviation employees, Mike and Wes
have also tweaked the program a bit in order to offer a second
session in the afternoon for airline passengers. "AIRCREWSURVIVAL:
For Frequent Fliers" will take place from 1 to 5 p.m.
"This
could save hundreds of lives, if they're armed with just some
basic knowledge," said Mike. "It's better than nothing;
some skills that are given here could possibly save them ...
and if I can give them that one tool, then I have my reward."
The
way Wes sees it, "we're breaking the barrier first off,
to show that there is another world beyond throwing a blanket"
on someone who poses a threat to a commercial airline flight.
"Unfortunately,
the politics and political correctness have sort of gotten in
the way of the fact that this is a war."
During
a life-or-death situation, "you just have to stop them,
to physically disable them, so they can no longer call on their
muscles or arms or legs to do you damage," he said.
"And
this stuff cannot be learned by watching a videotape," said
Wes.
'AIRCREWSURVIVAL'
An intensive, hands-on workshop on tactical self-defense for
airline employees and frequent fliers:
Class time: Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (for airline employees)
and 1 to 5 p.m. (frequent fliers)
Where: Honolulu Community College/University of North Dakota
Aerospace Flight School, 140 Iako Place, near the Honolulu International
Airport
Cost: $49 to $99
Call: 577-5555
E-mail: westcom@hawaii.rr.com
Source:
Star Bulletin
Punahou
graduate Carrie Ann Inaba had the time of her life in the cast
of the newest "Austin Powers"
By Jason Genegabus jason@starbulletin.com
Tuesday, July 30, 2002
NEW LINE
CINEMA
Carrie Ann Inaba has showcased dance, martial arts, singing,
editing and directing skills throughout her varied career.
AFTER
more than a decade in the entertainment industry, Carrie Ann
Inaba understands the importance of being happy with her work.
When the former Hawaii resident learned of a chance to play one
of the Fook twins in "Austin Powers in Goldmember,"
she jumped at the opportunity.
"It
was a dream. ... I've never had that much fun in my life,"
said Inaba from her home in Southern California last week. "I
had taken time off to go back to school and do some documentaries
and learn about directing and do choreography. Diane actually
got the role first."
Diane
Mizota, who plays Inaba's twin sister Fook Mi in "Goldmember,"
had learned the directors needed someone to play Fook Yu. "They
couldn't find the right girl, so they asked her if she knew somebody
who looked like her," Inaba said. "Diane called and
told me there was a little bit of martial arts involved, and
I said I'd do it in a heartbeat."
That
phone call led to Inaba's second appearance in the Austin Powers
series of films; she also played a Felicity Dancer in "Austin
Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me." The two roles are the
latest in a respectable list of accomplishments since Inaba graduated
from Punahou and moved out of her family's Niu Valley home.
Following
a brief recording career in Japan, Inaba made her way into America's
living rooms on a weekly basis in 1989 as a Fly Girl on the television
show "In Living Color." For three seasons she was able
to fulfill the dream of performing on television for a living.
"That
was one of the best jobs that I could ever have," Inaba
said. "A variety show, first of all, is really fun. You're
surrounded by amazing comedians and you'll never know what is
going to happen every week. But what I think I liked the most
was hanging out with the Fly Girls. I found myself really getting
along with (them) and I felt like it was the first time I belonged
somewhere."
Inaba's
role as the only Asian American among the show's dancers was
relatively new for television at the time, making her a role
model of sorts for those watching at home. "I like the fact
that we were all from different races," Inaba said. "We
all had different cultural backgrounds; it made for a really
interesting group. That was a great time in my life."
WHEN
Inaba left "In Living Color" in 1992, she continued
to dance professionally, although it "was kind of hard"
moving on from such a successful program. She returned to the
stress of auditioning while taking classes in Southern California
and managing her instructor's business affairs while he was out
of town. Inaba was also responsible for sending out examples
of her instructor's choreography, which often featured her as
one of the dancers.
After
sending a copy of the tape to Madonna's management for 1993's
"The Girlie Show" tour, Inaba got a phone call with
bittersweet news. The Material Girl didn't want her instructor
as a choreographer for the tour, but she did want Inaba as a
dancer. "It was a really hard choice ... but I turned her
down," Inaba said, explaining that dropping everything and
flying to New York for rehearsals "felt like it wasn't the
right thing to do" while acting on behalf of her teacher.
NEW LINE
CINEMA
Inaba, left, and Diane Mizota are the Fook twins -- Yu and Mi
-- in "Austin Powers in Goldmember." Mike Myers plays
Powers.
A
week later, she got a rare second chance when Madonna's management
flew to California for another round of auditions. Inaba was
hired for "The Girlie Show" and is credited with choreographing
one of the show's most erotic pole performances.
The tour required her to shave her head and perform topless,
two things Inaba had never thought of doing before joining Madonna
on stage.
"How
many times do you get to say you shaved your head bald and came
down a 50-foot pole in public?" asked Inaba with a laugh.
"Madonna's
whole idea was for everybody to be androgynous, and I thought
that was a really wonderful idea. I didn't really have an issue
with being topless; I thought it was kind of interesting.
"I'm
actually very conservative. That was another reason why I wanted
to do it -- if you're going to do something, you should go for
it."
When
Inaba left "The Girlie Show," she began to discover
her love for being not only in front of the camera, but behind
the scenes, as well. She landed roles in movies such as 1995's
"Showgirls" and "Monster Mash: The Movie,"
but was also busy working as a choreographer in both Hollywood
and Japan. She also returned to dancing as part of Ricky Martin's
1999 World Tour.
COURTESY
CARRIE ANN INABA
Carrie Ann Inaba, left, and Diane Mizota were together but out
of costume at the premiere of "Austin Powers in Goldmember"
in Universal City, Calif., on July 22.
OBSERVING
the success of Hawaii-born entertainers like Kelly Hu, Tia Carrere
and Jason Scott Lee, Inaba is still trying to figure out if she
really wants the attention that comes with being a celebrity
-- a very difficult decision, she insists.
"I've been trying to find the balance between being behind
the scenes and being in front of the camera," Inaba said.
"I'm an entertainer. ... That's just my nature, (but) I
don't know about being a celebrity.
"I'm
more interested in directing for television, short films, commercials
or music videos, that kind of thing. I'm definitely driven by
music; growing up in Hawaii and doing hula, and learning that
music is a way to tell a story kind of put me in a different
kind of mindset from the beginning."
The
past few years have seen Inaba continue to develop as a choreographer.
She has worked on Fox television line-up promos and the show
"Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire," along with
choreographing the last three years of the Miss America Pageant.
Inaba also completed an independent digital short film, "Black
Water." Scheduled for release around December, "Black
Water" will mark Inaba's return to music with her appearance
on the film's soundtrack.
"I
did find recently that I missed performing," Inaba said.
"Now that I edit and direct, I'm behind a computer screen
much more than I ever intended. I was missing touching people
and making a difference in people's lives.
"I
like showing people that not everything is as you think it is,
so don't be so quick to judge. I like breaking down those boundaries,"
she said.
Inaba
also plans to return to the islands a few times over the six
months or so. Following a May engagement to actor John La Russo,
Inaba is planning a small ceremony on a beach here sometime next
year.
At
this point in her life, Inaba still has a number of career options
available. While saying she'd "love to come back to Hawaii,"
Inaba is busy trying to get her digital video production company
off the ground so that "in five years when I have kids,
I'll have something where I don't have to go out and be in front
of a camera all the time."
And
don't count out seeing the former Fly Girl onscreen again either.
"I think that in life you're supposed to utilize what you've
been given," Inaba said. "I do think that you should
get out there and use (your talent) to the fullest."
Who
knows, maybe there's a Fook Twins spinoff movie in the works
somewhere.
Source:
Star Bulletin
PROFILE:
Dad's words inspire tae kwon do quest
By Catherine
E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Posted on: July 30, 2002
By Deborah
Booker
The Honolulu Advertiser
Stephanie Beckel's
energy and intensity have led to tae kwon do victories in the
Collegiate Team Trials and Senior Nationals this summer.
Stephanie
Beckel can do anything. That's what her father, Ronald, had always
told her. And when he passed away four years ago, she never forgot
that. His unwavering faith in her has pushed her to run faster,
kick stronger, work harder. Now the 19-year-old is considered
one of Hawai'i's top contenders for the next Olympics in tae
kwon do. This summer Beckel won gold medals at the Collegiate
Team Trials in Kansas City and the Senior Nationals in Detroit.
In June she finished second in the featherweight division at
the World University Taekwondo Championship in Berkeley, Calif.,
losing the gold by a decision to her Turkish opponent who had
competed in the 2000 Olympics. "I felt I could've done better,"
Beckel said. "But when I found out she was an Olympian,
I felt a little better." Beckel will compete for a spot
on the U.S. national team — and a chance to represent the
U.S. at the 2004 Summer Games — in August. Her father wouldn't
have been surprised. "I would always tell people how proud
he was of me," said Beckel, an honors student at the University
of Hawai'i. "He believed I could do anything." Ronald
Beckel died after suffering an aneurysm. It was sudden, startling,
and the loss still affects the family, Stephanie said. Two years
after his death they moved from Kane'ohe to Portland to be closer
to other family members. But Beckel chose to come back to Hawai'i
for college, mostly to continue training at the Bob Smith Taekwondo
Center in Kane'ohe, where she has trained for about 10 years.
"I knew this would be something my dad would've wanted me
to do," she said quietly. Beckel, who is 5 feet 6 and 127
pounds, threw herself into training, working out nearly every
day, pushing herself to improve in strength, conditioning and
mental toughness. "She has an unquenchable desire to train,"
said Smith. "She's pretty fanatic about it."
Intense workout pays
off
Beckel's workout schedule borderlines manic: She runs two hours
in the morning and practices tae kwon do for four hours in the
afternoon every day except Sunday, when she goes to church. During
the school year, she starts her day at 6 a.m., fitting her rigorous
workout into an already busy academic schedule."There are
guys on the U.S. National Team who said they've never seen anyone
train so hard," Smith said with a laugh. All that training
has made Beckel an Olympic candidate. A very good one, Smith
added. "She really stands out," he said. "There
are a couple elite-level champions (at the studio), but she is,
by far, the most intense. I never had a student who, after a
two-hour beating, would run sprints on her own." That intensity
and focus are critical in tae kwon do, a full-contact Korean
martial art that combines kicking and handwork. Introduced as
an Olympic sport in 2000, tae kwon do bouts last a continuous
three minutes; points are earned when competitors hit their opponents
hard enough for body displacement. And this year, in an attempt
to make the sport more exciting, head kicks are worth two points.
Meaning, being physically strong helps. And Beckel is that. "She's
as strong as most medium- to large-sized men," Smith said.
"She dominates."
Keeps it in
the ring
At the world championships last month, Beckel overpowered her
second opponent, 7-0. "She was so strong the Korean national
player actually just quit," Smith said. "She destroys
them, beats 'em down, every time." Beckel can't explain
what motivates her to train so hard, but her competitive fire
is obvious in the ring. Outside, though, is another story. You'd
never guess by her warm smile and playful sincerity she would
be such a fierce competitor. "I call her the psycho bunny,"
Smith said, laughing. "She looks like a pet rabbit."
Taekwondo has given Beckel a way to express herself without having
to say anything. "I see myself doing this for years, till
forever, till I'm a grandma," she said. But for now, her
focus is on the Olympics. And considering how her determination
has gotten her this far, that goal may not be that lofty. "I
want it," she said confidently. "And I work hard. So
we'll see."
Source:
Honolulu Advertiser
Curran
steps up, will face
unable to make the trip and defend his title against Yoshida.
The Curran-Yoshida bout will not be for a UCC title.
Source: Honolulu Advertiser
Local
girl gets groovy with 'Austin Powers'
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
Posted on: July 28, 2002
Yeah,
baby, that's Hawai'i's Carrie Ann Inaba, left, as Fook Yu, with
Mike Myers as Austin Powers and Diane Mizota as Fook Mi, in "Austin
Powers in Goldmember." The film is playing in theaters now.
Courtesy photo
Carrie
Ann Inaba, a Hawai'i actress, dancer, choreographer and filmmaker,
once shaved her head bald to glide down a pole in an opening
sequence for Madonna's "Girlie Show" tour.
For
three years in the early 1990s, Inaba also was a Fly Girl on
Fox-TV's "In Living Color."
She
was living la vida loca as a dancer with Ricky Martin in his
1999 tour.
Now,
she's on the big screen in "Austin Powers in Goldmember,"
in which she plays Fook Yu, the feisty other half of Fook Mi,
the sexy Fook Twins, in the midsummer comedy starring Mike Myers.
Yeah,
baby, she said it was a fun shoot.
"What
else could it be, with Myers and (director) Jay Roach?"
"It's
a good thing we didn't have to keep a straight face," she
said of working amid the lunacy of the Powers franchise. "All
day long, it's loud laughs, constant giggles. Mike is amazing
to work with."
Inaba
first encountered "Powers" and Myers three years ago,
when she appeared as a Felicity Dancer in "Austin Powers
II: The Spy Who Shagged Me." She had no intention of participating
in the third installment because of her commitment to Entermediarts,
her Los Angeles-based digital video company, which is producing
her first film, until she got a call from a friend.
"Diane
Mizota called me and said she went to an audition and they liked
her, but the movie needed twins," Inaba said. "We thought
of a mutual friend, Tina Horii, an actress from Hawai'i, but
I went to try out anyway. Diane and I dressed alike; she doesn't
have a mole on her lip, so she put one on. And we got the parts.
Besides, I was eager to do an action film."
The
studio describes the Fook Twins as "Japanese," even
if the names are Chinese, and the characters are supposed to
be seductive martial artists.
Inaba
plays Fook Yu, Mizota is Fook Mi, "and the sensual names
are a play on words, like in all Austin Powers films," she
said.
Inaba
said one of her best scenes, a kung fu encounter with Myers,
didn't make the final cut.
"I
hope it makes the DVD version, which is supposed to be out for
Christmas," she said. "A chair is broken between my
legs; it was so hilarious during filming that we all stood there
drooling with laughter. I swear, Mike is an absolute genius to
work with."
Inaba
is a 1986 Punahou School graduate, whose father, Rodney, lives
and works on the Big Island. Her remarried mom, Patty Inaba Chew,
lives in New York.
As
a teen, she was an idol in Japan, recording for Pony Canyon Records.
In
the early '90s, she wanted to break stereotypes and be an Asian-American
leader among performers. She sought work, and found it, on TV,
becoming a Fly Girl on "In Living Color."
That
stint led to a lead dancer's slot with Madonna, who insisted
she shave her hair off for a particular look for an opening sequence
of her then-touring show.
"Madonna
really pushes you, in a good way," Inaba said. "For
six months, I had to shave my head, to keep off the stubble.
It's like shaving your legs, but worse; you find out how cold
it is from your head down, and being bald, I learned a lot about
the shape of my head and how my face looks with expressions but
no hair. People thought I was either sick or a punk-rocker, and
I welcomed the challenge. It was not the typical role for an
Asian, but I loved doing things on the edge. It was like doing
a small bit for Cirque du Soleil."
She
always considered herself a dancer first, she said. "But
I like to keep a balance, in front of the camera and behind the
scenes."
Inaba
also choreographs and "moves people around," she said.
In
recent years, she worked on such shows as "Who Wants to
Marry a Multi-Millionaire," "America's Sexiest Bachelor,"
and Fox's season-launching promos, where she "choreographs"
actors to move to and fro. "Staging is like mathematics,
a matter of moving numbers, especially nonprofessionals —
my specialty," she said.
Lately,
she's been involved in writing, producing and directing "Black
Water," her first short film, which is being co-produced
by John LaRusso, her fiance. The film is "about the things
we hide from our past," and includes a underwater dance
sequence.
She
hopes to premiere it at the Hawai'i International Film Festival
in November.
The
film is not the only production in the works.
"We're
getting married next May in Hawai'i," Inaba said. "I
want it to be on the beach, with guests sticking their feet in
the water."
Next
up?
Inaba
will choreograph the 2002 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City
in September.
In
October, she journeys to Dubai to choreograph Fashion TV's World
Super Model Pageant.
"And
once my film is done, I hope to hit the film festival circuit
next year," she said.
Source:
Honolulu Advertiser
Words
sharp as a sword
By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist
Posted on: July 23, 2002
It's
a powerful thing when a young woman finds her voice.
It's
even more powerful when her voice speaks for those who feel they
are never heard.
Twenty-two-year-old
Ronda Mapuana Hayashi didn't set out to tell anybody's story
but her own. But her swift, cutting words and the raw, emotional
imagery she creates have left local audiences shaken and breathless
and moved.
She
speaks of broken promises, dead ends and betrayal; but within
her words are the seeds of hope and the search for simple dignity.
"I'm
a spoken-word artist and I don't limit myself," she says.
"That's lyrics and music, that's rap and hip-hop, that's
Hawaiian chanting."
Her
artistry is rooted in her ability from a very early age to speak
in verse and to articulate in hard, clear words the truths of
the world as she sees it.
"My
mother noticed I would speak in poetry when I was, like, 4 or
5," she says. "I think there's no greater force in
the world than the power of the word."
She
goes by the name "Katana," the name of a Japanese sword.
She has studied martial arts for much of her life, and that has
influenced her approach to performing.
"I
know my tongue can be a weapon, and in the hip-hop culture, there
are battles that occur between artists, so it was my way of saying,
'If you step in front of me, I will cut you lyrically,' but it
was also my way of saying I'd rather be on a higher level. I'd
rather be the wise spirit that's within the katana that guides
the warrior."
That
wise spirit guided her through what she calls "some hard
times," including the loss of family members and a relationship
with an abusive man. Her mother shakes her head when she talks
about that and says, "She wrote about that guy for a whole
year after it was over."
"I've
come to realize even when I'm writing about negative things,
that it's all very positive in a way," says Katana. "It's
healing for me and I hope that it can be healing for somebody
else."
Like
this sample from her guest spot on an upcoming CD by the group
BET:
Some
brothers tearing sisters down like they can't stand 'em when
they need 'em. Love 'em and leave 'em. Titas stand by his every
word and believe him when he say "I'll be there to stay."
That was several months ago, now a baby on the way. To a life
of hardships, hard times, single mother on welfare can't stop
the tears in her eyes from the stress. Papa rode out to the next
conquest ...
Much
of her work is at open mics and underground parties, but if you
want to catch Katana at a scheduled event, she'll be performing
at an event called Poetry to da Max on Aug. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at
UH-Manoa's Center for Hawaiian Studies. The event is being presented
by Hybolics magazine and is free.
It
is not your aptitude, but your attitude, that determines your
altitude.
Zig Ziglar
Maui's
Warriors of the Ring is Tonight!
WARRIORS
OF THE RING
War Memorial Gymnasium, Maui
Saturday, September 7, 2002
Fights start at 7:00PM
We may have some weigh-in coverage later today. If you are
in Maui, please come and check out the event and help support
MMA on Maui. Results will be posted tomorrow afternoon.
Fight card (subject
to change)
1.
Bake Huttendorf (175 lbs., Kodenkan) vs. Cruz Malaiakini (180
lbs., Maui)
2. Mark Moreno (175 lbs., Bulls Pen) vs. George Mendoza (167
lbs.)
3. Jesus Libero (270 lbs., Wailuku Kickboxing) vs. TBA
4. Tien Nguyen (130 lbs., Wailuku Kickboxing) vs. William Armstrong
(132 lbs., 808 Fight Factory)
5. Anthony Billianor (245 lbs., Lockdown Unlimited) vs. Dez Minor
(215 lbs., Kodenkan)
6. Ed Joy (160 lbs., Team C.O.C.K.) vs. Nassor Lewis (165 lbs.,
808 Fight Factory)
7. Leandro Nyza (145 lbs., Nova Uniao) vs. Dain Agbayani (145
lbs., 808 Fight Factory)
8. Michael Labuanan (165 lbs., Maui Full Contact) vs. Cheyenne
Alesna (170 lbs., Kodenkan)
9. Tyson Coloma Nahooikaika (165 lbs., Brazilian Freestyle J.J.)
vs. Corey Goeas (167 lbs., Kodenkan)
Curran
steps up, will face Yoshida in UCC
Jeff Curran
is a purple (maybe brown by now) belt under Pedro Sauer. He is
very fast and aggressive. This should be a good match.
Jeff Curran, fresh off a victory in the WEC last month, has been
signed to fight Baret Yoshida on Sept. 17 in the Universal Combat
Challenge in Honolulu.
Curran is a member of Team Extreme and trains under Pedro Sauer.
He defeated highly-touted Bao Quach in the WEC event at Mohegan
Sun Casino.
Due to visa problems, UCC lightweight champion Wagnney Fabiano
was unable to make the trip and defend his title against Yoshida.
The Curran-Yoshida bout will not be for a UCC title.
Source: T. Jay Thompson
DEEP2001
'6th IMPACT in ARIAKE COLOSSEUM' - Full results
1st
MATCH: No weight limit (3 x 5 min rounds)
Kazuki Ohkubo (U-FILE CAMP) def. Shoichi Ichimiya (Freelance)
by armbar at 1R 2:41.
2nd
MATCH: No weight limit (3 x 5 min rounds)
Ryo Chonan (U-File Camp) def. Katsumi Usuta (Battlarts)
by referee stoppage (flying knee and pound on the ground) at
1R 0:05.
3rd
MATCH: -90kg (3 x 5 min rounds)
Yasuhito Namekawa (Freelance) def. MAX Miyazawa (Aramusya Total
Fighting)
by front choke at 3R 2:37.
4th
MATCH: -68kg (3 x 5 min rounds)
Joao Roque (Brazil/Nova Uniao) def. Ryan Bow (USA/Freelance)
by majority decision (2-0).
5th
MATCH: No weight limit (3 x 5 min rounds)
Dos Caras Jr. (Mexico/AAA) def. Tatsuaki Nakano (Freelance)
by rear naked choke at 1R 4:05.
6th
MATCH: -67kg (3 x 5 min rounds)
Fabio Mello (Brazil/Brazilian Top Team) def. Takumi Yano (Japan/Ugo
Kai)
by unanimous decision (3-0).
7th
MATCH: -82kg (3 x 5 min rounds)
Ryuki Ueyama (Japan/U-FILE CAMP) def. Gilson Ferreira (Brazil/Brazilian
Top
Team) by armbar at 3R 3:49.
8th
MATCH: No weight limit (3 x 5 min rounds)
Antonio Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira (Brazil/Brazilian Top Team)
def.
Tsuyoshi 'TK' Kohsaka (Japan/Team Alliance G-square)
by unanimous decision (3-0).
9th
MATCH: -72kg (3 x 5 min rounds)
Dokonjonosuke Mishima (Cobra Kai) def. Takafumi Ito (PANCRASE
ism)
by armbar at 1R 0:53.
10th
MATCH: No weight limit (3 x 5 min rounds)
Kiyoshi Tamura (U-FILE CAMP) def. Ikuhisa Minowa (PANCRASE ism)
by unanimous decision (3-0).
Source: ADCC
9/6/02
Quote
of the Day
Failure
should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay,
not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure
is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing,
and being nothing.
Denis
Waitle
Patriot
Day
Patriot Day,
2002 by the President of the United States of America a
Proclamation
On this first
observance of Patriot Day, we remember and honor those who
perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We will
not forget
the events of that terrible morning nor will we forget how Americans
responded in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in the skies
over
Pennsylvania -- with heroism and selflessness; with compassion
and courage;
and with prayer and hope. We will always remember our collective
obligation
to ensure that justice is done, that freedom prevails, and that
the
principles upon which our Nation was founded endure.
Inspired by
the heroic sacrifices of our firefighters, rescue and law
enforcement personnel, military service members, and other citizens,
our
Nation found unity, focus, and strength. We found healing in
the national
outpouring of compassion for those lost, as tens of millions
of Americans
participated in moments of silence, candlelight vigils, and religious
services. From the tragedy of September 11 emerged a stronger
Nation,
renewed by a spirit of national pride and a true love of country.
We are a people
dedicated to the triumph of freedom and democracy over evil
and tyranny. The heroic stories of the first responders who gave
their all
to save others strengthened our resolve. And our Armed Forces
have pursued
the war against terrorism in Afghanistan and else-where with
valor and
skill. Together with our coalition partners, they have achieved
success.
Americans also
have fought back against terror by choosing to overcome evil
with good. By loving their neighbors as they would like to be
loved,
countless citizens have answered the call to help others. They
have
contributed to relief efforts, improved homeland security in
their
communities, and volunteered their time to aid those in need.
This spirit
of service continues to grow as thousands have joined the newly
established
USA Freedom Corps, committing themselves to changing America
one heart at a
time through the momentum of millions of acts of decency and
kindness.
Those whom we
lost last September 11 will forever hold a cherished place in
our hearts and in the history of our Nation. As we mark the first
anniversary of that tragic day, we remember their sacrifice;
and we commit
ourselves to honoring their memory by pursuing peace and justice
in the
world and security at home. By a joint resolution approved December
18,
2001 (Public Law 107-89), the Congress has authorized and requested
the
President to designate September 11 of each year as "Patriot
Day."
NOW, THEREFORE,
I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2002, as Patriot Day.
I call upon
the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate
ceremonies and activities, including remembrance services and
candlelight
vigils. I also call upon the Governors of the United States and
the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as appropriate officials
of all units
of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff
on Patriot
Day. Further, I encourage all Americans to display the flag at
half-staff
from their homes on that day and to observe a moment of silence
beginning
at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time, or another appropriate commemorative
time, to honor the innocent victims who lost their lives as a
result of the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day
of
September, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred
and twenty-
seventh.
GEORGE W. BUSH
Super
Brawl/UCC Hawaii
SuperBrawl
Presents: The UCC
Get
your tickets now! This event is fast aproaching and it will be
a barn burner!
On September 17th 2002,
the Universal Combat Challenge will finally bring its unique
brand of intense MMA action south of the Canadian border. Working
in conjunction with two of the most recognizable MMA promoters,
Monte Cox and T. Jay Thompson, the UCC will present Hawaii's
most popular talent against some of the UCC's top guns as well
as top talent from around the world. Athletes from Brazil, France,
Canada and the USA will all be at the Blaisdell Arena for the
fight of their lives.
The main event
will see a first in MAA history as UCC World Super Lightweight
champion WAGNNEY FABIANO (1-0, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) faces
#1 contender, BARET
"The Finisher" YOSHIDA (3-1, Honolulu, Hawaii) currently ranked #4 in
the world. This will see the first time that two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Black Belts compete for a world title! These elite athletes are
regarded as two of the best grapplers out there but at UCC HAWAII
we will find out who is the best MMA fighter of the two!
UCC 6 veteran
ANTONY REA (1-0, Paris, France) and Team Extreme superstar RICH
FRANKLIN (7-0, Cincinnati, Ohio) will put their respective undefeated
streaks on the line in a light heavyweight challenge that will
be sure to ignite the UCC ring. Rea stunned UCC fans with a brutal
KO win over former UCC Canadian Light Heavyweight champion Jeromie
Sills and has been training hard for his UCC return ever since.
Franklin was victorious in his UCC debut and has his sights set
on gaining UCC gold and sees Rea as the next step to his goal.
Former UCC Canadian
Light Heavyweight champion JEROMIE SILLS (3-3, Niagara Falls,
Canada) will return to action as he faces Hawaii's MMA superstar
and Superbrawl standout FALANIKO
VITALE (8-1, Honolulu,
Hawaii). Known as one of the most dangerous striker in the UCC,
Sills brings to the ring incredible strength and accuracy with
his fists as well as a solid wrestling background. Vitale is
also a gifted young athlete with lightning fast hands and slick
ground work that could end any fight in a blink of an eye. These
powerhouses are hungry for the KO and always put on a great show
for the fans. Look for this bout to be no different.
After two failed
attempts to compete for the UCC in Canada, LAVERNE CLARK (10-8,
Davenport, Iowa) will FINALLY enter the UCC ranks. Former UCC
World Middleweight champion DONALD OUIMET (4-1, Montreal, Canada)
will put his 17 plus years of boxing experience against the experienced
Clark. Clark's hands are a known factor in the MMA world as is
his wrestling abilities while Ouimet brings his stellar fists
and BJJ experience with him every time he fights. The fists will
fly when these super strikers go toe to toe in this Welterweight
ranking bout.
Also in action
will be highly ranked UCC warrior IVAN MENJIVAR (6-2, Zavateluca,
Salvador) taking on Hawaii's EDDIE
YAGIN (6-0, Honolulu,
Hawaii). Menjivar proved that he is ready to take on top international
talent when he dismantled the experienced Jeff Curran at UCC
10 in Canada. Yagin has been raising a few eyebrows as of late
and this is his big chance to show the fight world what he has
to offer.
STEPHAN POTVIN
(4-3, Montreal, Canada) of 454 Vale Tudo will go to war with
Team Extreme's DREW McFEDRIES (1-1, Davenport, Iowa). Potvin
shocked the MMA world when he dominated and defeated the highly
ranked Joe Doerksen at UCC 6 in what was considered to be a huge
upset by insiders. McFedries has built a serious rep in the American
Midwest and showed his huge heart in his victorious UCC debut
at UCC 10. This will be Drew's biggest test yet as Potvin is
a hungry lion looking to regain prominence in the UCC ranks.
Also in action
PAIN PETERS (6-2, Brampton, Canada), KERRY SCHALL (7-3, Cincinnati,
Ohio), YAN PELLERIN (2-2, Sherbrooke, Canada), RICHARD CHOU
(0-1, Honolulu, Hawaii), and a fighter to be determined soon.
The Blaisdell
arena will see electricity like never before when it houses the
Universal Combat Challenge's ERUPTION IN HAWAII. Tickets go on
sale soon so don't be left out! This historic event will also
be telecast on Pay-Per-View in Canada and some awesome news will
come out of the UCC office shortly regarding a Pay-Per-View deal
in the United States!
UFC
39 The Warrior's Return
Fight Card
Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
September 27, 2002
Randy
Couture and Ricco Rodriguez to clash for vacant UFC HEAVYWEIGHT
TITLE plus 2 Lightweight Fights at Mohegan Sun Arena To Set Stage
For Future Title Showdown!
For
more details, check out the UFC's website at www.ufc.tv.
Complete
Lineup (Subject To Change):
HEAVYWEIGHT
TITLE: Randy Couture versus Ricco Rodriguez
LIGHTWEIGHT
CONTENDER TOURNAMENT:
- BJ Penn versus Matt Serra
- Din Thomas versus Caol Uno
Middleweights:
Ivan Salaverry versus Matt Lindland
Middleweights: Phil Baroni versus Dave Menne
Heavyweights: Pedro Rizzo versus Gan McGee
Welterweights: Sean Sherk versus Benji Radach
Heavyweights: Tim Sylvia versus Wesley "Cabbage" Correira
UFC
39: The Warriors Return will be available on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV,
Dish Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada pay-per-view
television. The suggested retail price is $29.95.
Source: Abu Dhabi
Sakuraba
- Back on the Injured List!
After
a successful run as PRIDE'S top guy, Kazushi Sakuraba will be
forced to take 8-10 months off due to injuries.
His
nagging knee and shoulder problems combined with his recent injury
(fractured eye socket) during the Mirko Cro-Cop fight has forced
him out.
He
has an appointment with an ophthalmologist regarding his declining
health and injuries this week.
It
was almost two years ago when Sakuraba made his personal problems
public and vowed to correct them. After two brutal fights with
Vanderlei Silva and clearly outmatched in size against Cro-Cop,
Sak will not be given medical clearance until mid-2003.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
Sperry's
'DAY of the ZEN' - A HOT Seller!
Docmentary
DVD of the Brazilian TOP TEAM and their Leader, Mario Sperry
going fast!
The
new documentary on one of the top MMA Teams in the world, 'DAY
of the ZEN' by World Martial Arts, is setting sales records!
'Day of the Zen' is the behind the scenes documentary that fans
and student of Mixed Martial Arts have been waiting for! For
the first time ever, cameras were allowed inside the gyms, workouts,
training sessions and private life of Mario Sperry and the Brazilian
Top Team. Filmed on location in Brazil, this full length film
follows Sperry for one full day, through his amazing training
regimen that has led him to become one of the most successful
mixed martial arts fighters in history. See the whole team in
action like UFC champion Murilo Bustamante, PRIDE fighting champions
Ricardo Arona, Antonio 'Minotauro' Nogueira and many more!
Destined
to be a collector's item! Now available at the FIGHTWORLD
CATALOG!
Source:
Abu Dhabi
The
Brazilian Beat:
Paulo Filho is back in action,
Ninja's brother debuts with KO!
While the results
of the recent PRIDE Shockwave are still the subject of talk in
the NHB circles in Brazil, primary focus has already shifted
to upcoming events. September promises to be a busy month for
all the camps with UFC 39, PRIDE 22, plus the Deep event next
weekend. Teams like the Brazilian Top Team have a lot of fighters
already in Japan training and getting ready to compete, and others
are entering their final stages of their preparation. FCF will
keep a close eye on all the camps during this month, because
September will surely keep the beat going for a long time...
The PRIDE Heavyweight champion, Rodrigo "Minotauro"
Nogueira is still in Japan after his historic victory over Bob
Sapp at Shockwave. Minotauro stayed in Japan to help his brother
Rogerio in the final preparation for his fight against Tsuyoshi
Kohsaka at Deep this weekend. After the fight, the champion will
be going to Holland where he will train Muay Thai with Peter
Aerts once again, and take the opportunity to continue his physiotherapy
treatment. Minotauro will also be attending PRIDE 22 as a guest
in late September.
As things never
quiet down at the Brazilian Top Team, Mario Sperry is training
hard for his PRIDE 22 appearance against Russian fighter Andrei
Kopylov. "The Zen Machine" is sharpening his Muay Thai
skills and most of all training a lot of ground work with the
heavier Top Team members, like Fabiano Scherner, since Kopylov
is heavier than Mario and is a good ground fighter.
Another BTT
member who is likely fighting at PRIDE 22 is Paulo Filho. Filho
is already feeling recovered from the knee injury that prevented
him from competing at PRIDE 21and is preparing for his long awaited
PRIDE debut. His opponent is likely to be Japanese MMA journeyman
Akira Shoji.
Vitor Belfort
is also training hard in Sao Paulo for his November UFC appearance.
Belfort has been appearing on some Brazilian TV shows lately
along with his girlfriend Joana Prado, but he will stop the TV
appearances as fight time approaches and will concentrate on
nothing but his training. "The Phenom" told FCF he
is willing to enter this fight in the best shape of his life
and he is already preparing with Vladimir Matyushenko in mind
as his probable opponent.
After Vanderlei
Silva's fight at Shockwave things are busy again for the Chute
Boxe team. Pele is training hard in preparation for his upcoming
fight at MECA 7 in November, and looking for a shot at the UFC,
while Anderson Silva and Murilo Ninja are in great shape looking
for a likely appearance at PRIDE 22. Although no names have been
suggested to the Chute Boxe camp, Anderson would welcome a chance
to compete against Dan Henderson, who is rumored to be his likely
opponent, while Ninja still hopes for a shot at Ricardo Arona.
Speaking of
Vanderlei Silva, the PRIDE Middleweight champion is going on
vacation to the Northeast of Brazil this week. After lots of
training for Shockwave, with opponents changing all the time,
the "Axe Murderer" is finally taking a well-deserved
break to take his wife and daughter on vacation, and will be
back in two weeks. Therefore, chances are null that Vanderlei
Silva will be fighting at PRIDE 22, but he promised FCF that
after this break he will be back better than ever.
On August 24th
the latest edition of Storm Muay Thai delivered lots of action
in Curitiba, in the best "Chute Boxe-style." The highlight
of the night was Murilo Ninja's brother, Mauricio "Shogun's",
debut. He won his fight impressively by knockout in the second
round, and showcased some serious Muay Thai skills. Mauricio
will also be debuting in NHB at the next MECA in November. Other
important moments of the last Storm were Chute Boxe fighter Marlon
Matias winning once again and continuing his path to his future
NHB career, and the surprising loss of NHB veteran Osmar from
the Chute Boxe team to Everton by decision. The next edition
of Storm promises to be great and is likely to be held in the
end of September.
UFC Middleweight
champion Murilo Bustamante is in Japan right now, also helping
in the preparation of the BTT members who will be fighting at
Deep this weekend. Bustamante has been responsible for Fabio
Mello's training for years, and will be cornering him on his
Deep debut, as well as Rogerio Nogueira and Gilson Ferreira.
Murilo still didn't sign a new contract with the UFC and his
future is still a mystery at this point.
Source: FCF
Susumu
Pictures
Hello,
We
have added lots of photos from Dynamite! held on August 28th
and a Shooto event held on 26th. Please enjoy!
As
for Dynamite!, its influence reaches very deeply in Japan. At
the moment of the TV program of Dynamite! My 69-year-old mother
called me to tell that an exciting martial arts event was going
on. Unfortunately, I was not at home then so the message was
left on my answering machine.
She
does not like pro-wrestling. When I was a child and my father
began to watch some pro-wrestling during dinner, she hated him
to do that. But she loved to see Dynamite! And I asked her which
bout she loves most. Her answer was "a big guy vs. a small
guy" means Sapp vs. Nogueira. The bout impressed from the
core of the fan to a novice.
The
market of Integrated Martial arts in Japan seems to grow further
more.
Action
may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without
action.
Benjamin
Disraeli
The
Road to The 5th SUBMISSION WRESTLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Set
To Begin!!!
TORONTO
SHOWDOWN to pre-Qualify Canadian Team for ADCC Submission Wrestling's
NORTH AMERICAN QUALIFIERS!
Showdown
Ent. will host the Team Canada Pre-Qualifier this weekend, on
Sept 7th at Brock University. TEAM Canada will have five athletes
earn a berth to the North American Qualifiers, hosted by TUFF-N-UFF
and HOOKnSHOOT in San Diego on October 5th, 2002.
Brock
University has a history of having some of the world's finest
wrestlers coming from these very halls. From Olympians achieving
world success to having the best wrestling team in Canada for
both the men and woman. This will be a great event at a tremendous
venue for such a tournament as this.
The
weigh-ins will start at Brock University at 8:00 a.m. and run
until 10:00 a.m. The first matches should be on there way at
11:30 a.m.
The
complete lineup for the TORONTO SHOWDOWN will be posted here
on ADCC!
NA
Qualifier Update: SPRAWL ABOARD!!!! Loose Short Innovators sponsor
Quailfier Event!
The
applications have been pouring in, and some VERY strong competitors
are out there awaiting word on their inivitations! The final
applications deadline for the NA Qualifiers is coming up on September
9th (Monday). Any inquiries should be made to migueli@pa.net.
The
champions from last year have a standing invitation to defend
their titles - this is what we have so far:
2001
AMERICAN QUALIFIER CHAMPIONS:
65.9 KG & under: Mike Cardoso / Scheduled
66-76.9 KG: Matt Serra / Not Scheduled (MMA Career)
77-87.9 KG: Travis Lutter / Not Scheduled (MMA Career)
88-98.9 KG: Marc Laimon / Scheduled
99 KG & Up: Roger Neff / Scheduled
This
Saturday, TEAM Canada will earn the 2nd slot, and we hope to
extend the other 6-7 invitations per weight class shortly thereafter.
Former competitors include Dave Menne, PRIDE Champion Rodrigo
'MINOTAURO' Noguiera, Dennis Hallman, Matt Serra, just to name
a few!
AND
ABOUT THE REALLY BIG SHOW!!!
There
are rumors flying everywhere about the ADCC's 5th SUBMISSION
WRESTLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. In true ADCC spirit, the decision
of location is a closely guarded secret, with few knowing the
exact location. There are rumors about it being held in the USA,
in Brazil, in Europe, possibly in Japan. There are a lot of unfounded
rumors! Nothing is certain, except that an OFFICIAL announcement
is expected shortly, as the committee's are in the final stages
of decision making. Unofficially, Brazil looks to be the frontrunner!
Expect
exact dates to be announced as well, however the tournament is
scheduled for the March-April 2003 timeframe right now.
The
ADCC has hosted the most prestigious grappling tournament in
the world since it's inception, in 1998. Since then, the list
of competitors reads like a who's who for the world of Mixed
Martial Arts. Royler Gracie, Mark Kerr, Mario Sperry, Sanae Kikuta,
Jean Jacques Machado, Renzo Gracie, Ricardo Arona, Enson and
Egan Inoue, Jeff Monson, Baret Yoshida, Mark Robinson and Sasha
Savko just to name a few!
Expect
the 5th edition to be the most advanced and refined from a Martial
Arts perspective! If you want to apply directly to the WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIPS contact Guy Neivens of the Abu Dhabi Combat Club.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
‘Sapp’solutely
Absurd
Editorial by Josh Gross
Since the day I started covering mixed martial arts I’ve
maintained that it takes more than fancy lights, pyrotechnics,
and, now that I’ve seen it, a skydiving Antonio Inoki to
make a legit mixed martial arts card.
Strip
away the belief that any of that window dressing matters and
it’s clear that the only thing of real importance should
be the notion that evenly matched competitors in weight, skill
and experience would face each other in a battle of wills.
That
is the heart of combat sports.
Last
Wednesday, however, the co-promoted K-1/PRIDE “Shockwave”
card from Tokyo was so out of tune with that philosophy that
it was, literally, scary. Before you begin to think this is going
to be a commentary chastising the giant Japanese fighting promotions
for their complete lack of respect as to fighter safety as well
as a myriad of other concerns, let me warn you: you’d be
right.
You
can’t avoid the fact that an amazingly large crowd of over
91,000 filed into Toyko’s National Stadium to watch and
be part of an event that, in person, I’m sure was simply
amazing. However, what they watched inside the ring was far more
newsworthy. See, as impressive a feat as that attendance figure
was, the trend of worsening mismatches and bouts that simply
should not be made is becoming more and more frequent -- and
at no time was this more evident than a week ago today.
I
could focus purely on the Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-Bob Sapp travesty
-- that’s right, travesty -- but there’s too much fodder
from the rest of the card to simply concentrate on that sham.
But, man, what an example it was. Shockingly, it was one of the
worst illustrations of dangerous matchmaking in the history of
combat sports, and for me not to point that would be a mark against
my credibility as a journalist.
How
one can buy into the idea that three huge mismatches, a nonsensical
bout between middleweight Kazushi Sakuraba and heavyweight Mirko
‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic, and the small (and you have to
be careful when using that word to describe anything having to
do with Sapp) matter of having Nogueira -- one of the best fighters
in the world -- fight a 370-lb. monster with less than 5 fights
in his career might be remotely good is beyond me.
I
digress.
The
first one-sided bout on the card saw PRIDE middleweight champion
Vanderlei Silva destroy a no name Japanese fighter thrown in
there for the sake of having him fight someone the paying customers
could root for.
What
kind of credibility does that bring to the event? So the “Axe
Murderer” took out Tatsuya Iwasaki in under two minutes.
What is the point? Silva looked like a bully when he really doesn’t
need any help in that area.
The
patrons on hand got to see Silva be Silva, right? I don’t
think so. As awesome as he can be when pushed (and thanks to
some horrible matchmaking he hasn’t been challenged in a
while), people will be quick to forget just how amazing a fighter
he really is if he continues beating up on poor saps that most
fans think they can KO on their own.
Unlike
the Brazilian champion, Gary Goodridge is no longer a serious
threat to top MMA fighters; however, he can still throw down.
The guy has fought more than 95% of competitors in the sport,
so who better to match up for him than someone with zero, zip,
zilch MMA experience. Makes perfect sense, right? It has all
the trappings of an even fight, right?
Please.
Goodridge
severely outmatched Van Dams on the mat, which if you’ve
seen the PRIDE veteran fight before (and chances are you have)
then you know that’s saying something. He landed repeated
left hooks from side control that bloodied Van Dams’ nose
before mounting and pounding away until the referee stopped the
fight 3:39 round one. It should have been stopped three minutes
40 seconds earlier.
But
that’s not the worst of it.
The
most pointless, and utterly heart dropping fight on the card
featured MMA veteran Don Frye fighting in a K-1 style bout for
the first time in his career.
It
was as if Frye had never strapped on a pair of boxing gloves
before. K-1 veteran Jerome Le Banner, who when on is as dangerous
a kickboxer as there ever was, simply owned the overmatched Frye
before scoring a devastating knockout roughly halfway through
round one.
Le
Banner used his extensive skill, experience and hefty weight
advantage to muscle Frye around. After a standing eight count
Frye found himself on the bad end of a pin point Le Banner right
hook. The brutal shot stopped him in his tracks. It was like
watching a childhood hero crumble in front of our eyes. Almost
instantly, the image we had in our minds of Don Frye was tainted
forever.
And
for what? Frye never had a shot of competing. And that’s
my entire point. These three bouts were not about competition,
or anything close to sporting.
Unbelievably,
after the carnage in the previous three fights, the Sakuraba-Cro
Cop contest almost seemed near even as both men stood in the
ring before the bell sounded. Sadly, it turned out to be just
another example of how poorly put together the matchmaking actually
was.
After
ten minutes that saw the smaller Sakuraba try and take his larger,
more athletic opponent to the mat (remember, there was a 30 pound
difference here) while absorbing several hard low kicks, the
Japanese fighter, who in one year went from the top fighter at
his weight to a punching bag for much larger opponents, suffered
a broken orbital bone (a repeat injury he endured in his first
fight versus Vanderlei Silva in yet another instance of a fight
with a large weight disparity).
Instead
of a competitive match against one of several fighters at 185-lbs.
that could give Sakuraba a great fight, we are left with watching
one of the most dynamic fighters in MMA history having to lift
himself off the scrap heap once more if he hopes to continue
fighting.
Now
onto my biggest complaint on the card: OK, look, there’s
no doubt that Nogueira-Sapp was an amazing, almost jaw-dropping,
fight to watch. I will not argue that point with anyone, but
what was its purpose? These guys put themselves on the line every
time they step into the ring, why endanger them further by making
ridiculous matches?
I
don’t want people to think this is an attack on Bob Sapp.
It’s not. (In fact I’m not holding any of the fighters
on the card accountable.) I’m not saying that Sapp doesn’t
bring anything to the table, but until he faces someone within
70-lbs. of his weight you can’t call it either way.
He’s
an athletic freak that decided to take his size and strength
into the fighting world. Fine, let him brawl with a fellow super-heavyweight,
but I don’t think he should get any sort of credit for manhandling
a man 150-lbs. smaller than him, no matter if that man is champion
or not.
Where
is the “sport” in that? Nogueira-Sapp transported us
back to 1993 when the idea of MMA as sport seemed as illogical
as this match is today.
Think
about it, had Nogueira landed differently (perhaps an inch either
way) when he was driven head first into the mat in the opening
seconds by a fresh and ready to kill Sapp, we could be talking
about something far more serious right now.
Where
does the responsibility lie? PRIDE claims fighter safety is important,
well co-promotion with K-1 or not, there’s no excuse for
DSE not prohibiting “spiking” under its regulations.
As of today, it’s not listed as an illegal tactic in their
list of rules. That needs to change immediately.
Soon,
we’re going to have to start asking what are they trying
to sell and to what lengths are they willing to peddle it? It
seems clear that for the time being the chance of them changing
their focus from mismatched and freak show fights to evenly contested
bouts is slim. And that’s truly sad considering the tremendous
fighters DSE currently has under contract that could create incredible
match ups.
One
thing I am certain of is you can only play Russian roulette so
many times before someone gets a bullet between the eyes. Thankfully,
Wednesday night was not the time for something horrible to happen,
but who’s to say how much longer mixed martial arts can
keep dodging trouble when promoters continue to book irresponsible
and entirely unsafe bouts.
Who’s
holding the gun and where is it pointed?
Shooto
Official Ranking
Updated
Ranking Records
August 20th
(on July 31st Results) August 31st
Featherweight
[-60.0Kg]
Ranking Last Name Country Gym Records
Champ. - Masahiro Oishi Japan K'z FACTORY 8-4-3
1st - Hisao Ikeda Japan PUREBRED Omiya 10-4-1
2nd - Jin Akimoto Japan K'z FACTORY 10-5-2
3rd - Hiroaki Yoshioka Japan PARAESTRA TOKYO 5-4-2
4th - Kentaro Imaizumi Japan SK Absolute 4-1-1
5th - Ryota Matsune Japan PARAESTRA MATSUDO 8-1
6th - Hudson Rocha Brazil Brazilian Top Team 1-0
7th - ABKZ Japan PARAESTRA TOKYO 4-2-1
8th Up 10th Kimihito Nonaka Japan PUREBRED Omiya 5-5-2
9th Down 8th Shuichirou Katsumura Japan K'z FACTORY 3-2-1
10th New OutOfRank Masato Shiozawa Japan Wajyutsu Keisyukai 2-1
Lightweight
[-65.0Kg]
Ranking Last Name Country Gym Records
Champ. - Alexandre Franca Nogueira Brazil World Fight Center
8-2
1st Up 4th Hiroyuki Abe Japan AACC 4-1-2
2nd Down
1st Stephen Palling USA Jesus Is Lord 6-3
3rd Dowm 2nd Tetsuo Katsuta Japan K'z FACTORY 6-3-1
4th Up 5th
Baret Yoshida USA Grappling Unlimited 4-3-1
5th Up 7th Kazuhiro Inoue Japan Impress 4-3-3
6th - Naoya Uematsu Japan K'z FACTORY 8-0-2
7th Dowm 3rd Katsuya Toita Japan Keisyu-kai 6-3
8th - Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto Japan PUREBRED Omiya
3-1
9th - Noboru Asahi Japan Tokyo Yellow Mans 18-4-4
10th - Ian J. Schaffa Australia Spartan Gym 1-2-1
Welterweight
[-70.0Kg]
Ranking Last Name Country Gym Records
Champ. - Takanori Gomi Japan Kiguchi Wrestling School 9-0
1st - Dokonjonosuke Mishima Japan Cobra-kai 9-1-2
2nd - Ryan Bow USA Freelance 6-2
3rd - Marcio Cromado Brazil Renovação Fight Team
2-3
4th - Javier Vazquez Cuba Millennia Jiu Jitsu 1-0
5th - Rumina Sato Japan K'z FACTORY 16-5
6th Up 8th Tatsuya Kawajiri Japan TOPS 6-1-1
7th Down 6th Hiroshi Tsuruya Japan PARAESTRA MATSUDO 5-1-3
8th Down 7th Kohei Yasumi Japan PARAESTRA TOKYO 5-1-2
9th - Vitor Ribeiro Brazil Nova Uniao 1-0
10th - Takumi Japan PARAESTRA TOKYO 9-2-2
Middleweight
[-76.0Kg]
Ranking Last Name Country Gym Records
Champ. - Anderson Silva Brazil Chute Boxe 2-0
1st - Hayato "Mach" Sakurai Japan GUTSMAN Shooto Dojo
13-1-1
2nd - Tetsuji Kato Japan PUREBRED Omiya 11-3
3rd - Jutaro Nakao Japan STG Osaka 9-7-2
4th - Ray
Cooper USA Jesus Is Lord 6-4
5th - Dave Strasser USA Free Style Academy 3-0
6th - Steve Berger USA Rodrigo Vaghi JJ 1-0-1
7th - Aron Riley USA AMC Pankration 1-0
8th - Takuya Wada Japan K'z FACTORY 5-2-2
9th - Dan Gilbert USA Hell House 1-3
10th - Chris Brennan USA Next Generation 1-0
Lightheavyweight
[-83.0Kg]
Ranking Last Name Country Gym Records
Champ. - Masanori Suda Japan Club J 9-5-1
1st - Lance Gibson Canada Gibson Pankration 2-1
2nd Up 7th
Egan Inoue USA Grappling Unlimited 3-0
3rd Down 2nd Larry Papadopoulos Australia Spartan Gym 2-0-3
4th Down 3rd Izuru Takeuchi Japan K'z FACTORY 5-1-3
5th Down 4th Martijn de Jong Holland Tatsujin Dojo 1-3-1
6th Down 5th Shikou Yamashita Japan PARAESTRA SAPPORO 6-1-1
7th Down 6th Ivan Salaverry USA AMC Pankration 3-1
8th - Scott Henze USA Freelance 2-0-1
9th - Dustin Denes USA American Top Team 2-0
10th - Ronald
Jhun USA Team Jhun 2-4
PREDICTIONS
FOR 2002 FREESTYLE WRESTLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
By: Eddie Goldman
It's
that time again, for my predictions for the 2002 Freestyle Wrestling
World Championships, to be held Sept. 5-7 in Tehran, Iran. Although
the U.S. team is not going, over 40 countries will be sending
teams to compete. The final lineups have not yet been announced
by many countries, but so far it looks like Russia will run away
with the team title. Here are my predictions, by weight class:
55
kg -- In the finals of the 2001 World Championships, then when
the lowest weight class was 54 kg, Herman Kantoyev of Belarus
defeated Babak Nourzad of Iran, 5-1. That event was held in Bulgaria,
and this year's location of Iran might be just enough to put
the 24-year-old Nourzad over the top. He was a Junior World Champion
in 1998, with 2001 being his first entry into the Senior World
Championships. But Nourzad has not been unbeatable this year.
He lost 6-1 in the finals of the 2002 World University Championship
in June in Edmonton, Canada, to Japan's Tomohiro Matsunaga, who
did not even make Japan's national team this year. Still, wrestling
in front of the home crowd, and all the other advantages that
competing in your home country bring, should make Babak Nourzad
of Iran the winner at 55 kg.
60
kg -- Most of the wrestlers in this weight class competed in
the old 58 kg division. At last year's World Championships at
58 kg, the finals saw Giuvi Sissaouri of Canada defeat Mongolia's
Purevbaator Oyunbileg by a 5-2 score in overtime. However, these
two met again this year, in April at the 2002 World Cup in Spokane,
Washington. This time Oyunbileg decisioned Sissaouri by a 5-1
margin. Sissaouri ended up with the gold at the World Cup because
Oyunbileg lost another match to Eric Guerrero of the U.S., 6-4.
Since Guerrero also lost to Sissaouri, no one was undefeated.
Thus the complicated scoring system gave the gold to the Canadian.
But the American Guerrero, of course, will not be competing at
this year's World Championships, so look for the 29-year-old
teacher from Ulan Bator, Mongolia, Purevbaator Oyunbileg, to
pick up his first World Championship.
66
kg -- This is another hybrid weight class, perhaps the hardest
hit by the reduction from eight to seven weight classes by FILA
at the behest of the International Olympic Committee. It combines
wrestlers from the old 63 and 69 kg weight classes. At last year's
World Championship finals at 63 kg, held in Bulgaria, Serafim
Barzakov of Bulgaria defeated Ali Reza Dabir of Iran in a controversial
finish by a score of 3-1. Both Barzakov and Dabir are reported
to be going up to 66 kg this year. The 69 kg 2001 World Champion,
Nikolai Paslar, also of Bulgaria, will likely wrestle at 74 kg
this year.
Frankly,
Ali Reza Dabir is one of the superstars of freestyle wrestling.
He turns 25 on Sept. 16, has his own web site, www.alirezadabir.com, and has an incredible
record that already includes a world championship in 1998 and
an Olympic gold medal in 2000. Add to this the hometown advantage,
and, if he remains healthy, he could not only win this year's
world championship at 66 kg, but also become the 2002 freestyle
wrestler of the year.
74
kg -- Although he finished second in the 2002 Russian Freestyle
Championships, there is good reason that Russia has reportedly
tapped Bouvaisa Saitiev to represent them at 74 kg. At the age
of only 21, he won an Olympic gold medal in Atlanta, Georgia,
in 1996. Now 27, he has added to that list of gold medals by
winning world championships in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001. He
has also won the European Championships five times. The wrestler
who beat him at the Russian nationals, Magomed Isagaschiev, only
finished third at this year's European Championships, so it looks
like Russia will go with the guy who more often than not gets
the job done in international competition. Look for Bouvaisa
Saitiev to go home with his sixth world gold medal. You can also
read more about him at: http://www.amina.com/people/buvais.html.
84
kg -- With Cael Sanderson sitting home in Iowa, we will have
to wait at least another year to see how the undefeated college
wrestler would do in the much tougher international freestyle
field. So until that time comes, this weight class seems to belong
to Russia.
At
this time it is not clear just whom Russia is sending, but it
might not matter since they are incredibly deep at this weight.
Khadjimourad Magomedov was the 2001 world champion at 85 kg,
and the 1996 Olympic gold medalist at 82 kg. He is a veteran,
but still only 28 years old. Adam Saitiev, the 24-year-old younger
brother of Bouvaisa, was a 2000 Olympic gold medalist and a 1999
world champion. 22-year-old Sazhid Sazhidov was a junior world
champion in 1998 and 2000, and a European champion in 2001 and
2002. Khajimurad Gatsalov, who reportedly tied with Adam Saitiev
at this year's Russian nationals, was a 2001 junior world champion
and a 2002 World Cup gold medalist. It just seems that whomever
Russia sends will win the gold medal at this weight.
96
kg -- An intriguing question at this weight class is: Can 27-year-old
Ali Reza Heydari of Iran win the big one at home this year? He
did capture gold at the 1998 World Championships at 85 kg, the
last time they were held in Iran. But in 1999, when they were
held in Turkey, he slipped to second, after moving up to 97 kg,
losing to Russia's Sagid Murtazaliev in the finals. He then fell
to sixth place in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and
16th place at the 2001 World Championships in Bulgaria. There
he met the eventual champion Georgi Gogchelidze of Russia in
his first-round pool, and was pinned in 2:14.
It
is not yet entirely clear just whom Russia will be sending at
this weight, but it likely will be Gogchelidze. He reportedly
won the Russian nationals this year, and his performance against
Heydari last year should alone be good enough reason to send
him to Tehran to try to repeat. Gogchelidze is just 22, and also
won gold at this year's World Cup in Spokane, again showing he
can win on the road and in a country whose fans are likely rooting
against him.
But
beating Heydari in Iran this year, as opposed to Bulgaria last
year, may be something else. Still, I'm picking the Russian Georgi
Gogchelidze to win his second straight world championship this
year and make his mark as one of the world's top wrestlers.
120
kg -- At 30 years old, David Musulbes of Russia may be one of
the oldest competitors in serious contention for a gold medal.
But his record of late speaks for itself: 2000 Olympic gold medalist,
2001 and 2002 European champion, 2001 world champion, and also
this year's victor in the Russian nationals. Nobody seems able
to stop Musulbes, and I doubt anyone will be able to do so at
this year's World Championships either.
LIVE
WEBCAST OF WORLD FREESTYLE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM IRAN!
By: Eddie Goldman
The official
Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) is calling the World Freestyle
Wrestling Championships, which start Thursday in Tehran, 'the
main sporting event in Iran in 2002.'
To highlight
this, the web site of the Amateur Wrestling Federation of Iran
will be having a free, live webcast of the action on the mat.
Real Player, which is also free, is needed.
The wrestling
is scheduled to take place on Thurs., Sept. 5 from 9 AM to 9
PM; on Fri., Sept. 6 from 9 AM to 8 PM; and conclude on Sat.,
Sept. 7 from 9 AM to 8 PM, all Tehran local time. Remember that
local Tehran time is +0430 UTC, or 8 1/2 hours ahead of EDT.
Besides the
Iranian Wrestling Federation site, there are several web sites
that will be either posting some results or articles about the
World Freestyle Wrestling Championships.
Make sure to
check TheMat.com. While USA Wrestling is not competing at this
year's World Freestyle Wrestling Championships, TheMat.com will
be providing information and results.
There are several
web sites in Iran that will be having coverage of the World Championships
in English, or links to sites that do have coverage. Below is
a list:
Both
poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.
Napolean
Hill
Tito
Ortiz Interview
Tito
Ortiz is the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. So what's next?
Well, Ken Shamrock of course, but Tito talks to MMAWeekly about
how he will try to beat friend Chuck Liddell, how he wants to
fight Vanderlei Silva and his future plans. Tito Ortiz is our
"Interview of the Week."
Ryan
Bennett: We are with the UFC Champion, Tito Ortiz, coming off
a nice performance on the Best Damn Sports Show on Fox Television.
You guys really do hate each other don't you?
Tito
Ortiz: Yea you could say that. We aren't friends. I beat all
of his guys and took out the kitty litter, so he's just upset
about that.
Ryan:
This all stems back to the Guy Metzger fight?
Tito:
Yea - all of those guys. I took them all out and now I get to
take out the leader [Ken Shamrock].
Ryan:
Now you know the guy is going to go for the knee. How is the
knee doing?
Tito:
It feels good. I'm at about 80% right now and I can't wait until
next month when I can begin to work out at 100%. I actually have
100% of my range of motion. It's just working out the muscle.
I just need to get all those muscles firing and I will be fine.
Ryan:
See, and that's what's hard for most of us who have gone through
this to try to imagine. You are coming back only months after
tearing your ACL. How do you do that? I remember tearing mine
playing hoops and I was never the same again. How the hell are
you going to come back?
Tito:
I'm a genetic freak I guess. I test myself and push myself to
the limits in everything I do. I have no doubt in my mind that
I will be ready to go no matter what. It won't be a problem no
matter what happens.
Ryan:
You know Shamrock will work on that knee no matter what. How
will you be able to deal with that?
Tito:
I will be working with the best guy in the world in knee bars,
and that's Scott Adams. He is the best. I will be using him 100%.
I will also be using a few other guys as well. I hope he goes
for my knees. That will give me a chance to bash his head in.
People who want to go for submissions, they always open themselves
up for strikes. This isn't a submission fight, this is a real
fight. We will see who the baddest man is.
Ryan:
I was talking with you at the Bellagio show for UFC 37.5. Chuck
Liddell and Vitor Belfort were the main event of that fight and
one of the things I remember the most, was the camera shot of
you before their fight started. You had the game face on, you
were ready to go. You were fired up!
Tito:
(laughs) I WAS fired up! It felt like I was fighting, man. These
are the two guys I will be fighting in the future. I wanted to
get the same feeling they had. I felt the same thing. I was really
happy for Chuck. He is a good friend of mine and we will be fighting
each other after I take care of Shamrock, but I was really happy
for him. I won money off him. I bet $1,000 on him because I knew
he would win. I don't think Belfort had the game to deal with
him. He struck with Belfort, he put the game together, and he
got him with the big punch, won the round and won the fight.
Ryan:
You guys used to train together. How different of fighters are
you from when you trained together?
Tito:
We've changed a lot since then. His wrestling has gotten a lot
better, his submissions are better, and for me my striking has
gotten a lot better as well as my submissions. We both have been
working it all together. In time it will come down to a cardio
game and an aggression game. Who is more aggressive? I think
everyone knows who the most aggressive fighter in the sport is
today, and that's me. I think it will come down to who is in
better shape, and who has more heart. EVERYONE will get their
money's worth when it comes down to Chuck and me.
Ryan:
Tito you've been to the top, you're taking on Shamrock coming
up. Liddell on the horizon. What is left for you in this sport?
Tito:
Competition is always a challenge, and I love a challenge. I
love to push myself. Maybe in a few years, I will go into acting
and become a big actor. I would love to do that. I use my charisma
in fighting and I feel I could do the same thing in acting. Everything
I do is real. This isn't pro wrestling like "The Rock".
I do the real shit and people see that. When I do a fight scene,
we will do a real fight scene. Chuck Liddell and I just did Cradle
to the Grave with Jet Li and DMX and Tom Arnold did a fight scene
and everyone thought we were really fighting. It was really good.
Everyone can check that out, I believe, at the first of next
year.
Ryan:
I'm not going to get into the London fight at the bar, but I
know you are still bent about that situation. Anything you want
to say to Lee, the Kickboxer overseas?
Tito:
Yea, if you have the guts, I will cut down to 199. Come face
me in the cage where you can't run away this time. I would LOVE
that fight.
Ryan:
Fair enough. You talk about cutting weight, how about gaining
it. Is there a possibility that you would move up in weight and
fight heavyweight?
Tito:
If I'm dominating like this next year... if I beat Chuck, I want
to fight Vanderlei Silva again. I want to fight Belfort. I just
want to clean up the guys who were on top, or who are on top,
and if I do that, then I will step up in weight. Heavyweight
guys be careful, because if I start lifting like I want to so
I can get bigger, look out. I have the frame for it and I can't
go like I want to because I will add too much weight. I only
weigh 217 right now. So if I get up to 227 or 230, that is a
perfect weight for me. I already have the power, so I think it
would be scary to see me at heavyweight.
Ryan:
That would be fun for me to see. Tito you enjoy talking the smack,
but I see the guy who does the charity, signs the autographs,
and truly talks to the fans. That is something that a lot of
people have never seen. Thanks for a good interview champion
and I will see you soon.
Tito:
Alright man, thanks a lot for having me.
Source:
MMA Weekly
UFC
and RINGSIDE Team Up!
LAS
VEGAS, SEPTEMBER 3, 2002 - The Ultimate Fighting Championships
have recently made enormous advancements in gaining national
exposure, sanctioning by the Nevada State Athletic Commission
and now in the area of equipment. For the first time ever a leading
manufacturer of boxing and martial arts equipment has a new cover
boy and it's the UFC Light Heavyweight Contender, Chuck 'The
Iceman' Liddell.
The
day before his amazing victory over Vitor Belfort, Liddell posed
for the photos that will appear on the upcoming issue of the
Ringside Catalog. Ringside is known throughout the equipment
industry for its innovative, progressive approach to the sport
of boxing, kickboxing and soon the mixed martial arts. The issue
is scheduled to hit mailboxes at the beginning of September and
will feature nearly a dozen pages of mixed martial arts gear,
UFC merchandise, plus more photos of the UFC stars. Liddell is
also joined by UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes, Welterweight
sensation Robbie Lawler, and Heavyweight contender Frank Mir.
The
impact that the UFC is having on the world of sports and the
industry as a whole is beginning to be seen in every facet of
contact sports. President of Ringside, John Brown is quick to
point out the potential, 'Kickboxing and the martial arts have
always been an important part of our business. The UFC is taking
the entire sport to a new level. Through innovative thinking
and putting their passion for the sport to work, they're making
huge gains in public recognition. We support their efforts and
no one represents the heart of mixed martial arts more than Chuck
Liddell. Making him our first MMA cover athlete seems like a
natural move.'
Setting
new standards and creating new boundaries seems to be the UFC-way
of competing. The excitement continues to build a bigger audience
and provides a greater demand, not only in pay-per-view dollars,
but in the equipment industry as well.
The
exclusive Chuck Liddell cover is being printed in a limited quantity
and will only be available for a short time. To obtain a copy
of Ringside's new Fall Catalog featuring the Chuck Liddell call
toll-free 877-426-9464 or go online to www.ringside.com. You
must request the Special UFC/Chuck Liddell Edition.
2002
FREESTYLE WRESTLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FACTS
By: Eddie Goldman
The
competition in the 36th Senior World Freestyle Wrestling Championships
is set to begin Thursday, Sept. 5, in Tehran, Iran, and run through
Sat., Sept. 7. All the action will take place at the 12,000-seat
Azadi Sports Complex in Azadi Square in western Tehran. The host
organization is the Iran Wrestling Federation, and all the wrestling
will take place under the rules of FILA, the international wrestling
federation.
In
addition to the host country of Iran, more than 40 countries
have officially announced that they will be competing: Armenia,
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia,
Cuba, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great
Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan,
South Korea, Latvia, Moldova, Mongolia, Macedonia, Netherlands,
Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Switzerland, Slovakia,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The final list of countries may not be known until the actual
teams arrive in Iran on September 3 and 4. The U.S. announced
last week that it would not be competing due to security concerns
arising from a direct threat to its wrestling team made by an
unnamed source, as reported to it by the U.S. State Department.
No other country that had planned to attend has announced that
it would be staying home.
The
actual list of wrestlers competing will not be known until, at
the latest, six hours before the weigh-ins. For the weight classes
of 55, 66, and 84 kg, the weigh-ins will be on Wed., Sept. 4,
at 6 PM Tehran time. For the weight classes of 60, 74, 96, and
120 kg, the weigh-ins will be on Thurs., Sept. 5, at 4 PM Tehran
time. Mandatory medical examinations will precede the weigh-ins
by one hour.
FILA
will be having doping tests at this event. They will be conducted
by the Doping Control Laboratory of Athens at the Hellenic Sports
Research Institute of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens,
Greece, which is an IOC-accredited center.
Here
is the official schedule:
THE
36th SENIOR WORLD FS WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP 5-7 SEPTEMBER 2002
- TEHRAN, I.R. IRAN
PROGRAM
September
3-4: Teams arrival.
September
4
09:00-17:00: Referees' Clinic.
09:00-13:00: Calendar Congress
12:00: Final entries deadline Cat: 55, 66, 84 Kg.
16:00-17:00: Meeting of the team leaders
17:00-18:00: Medical Examination for the weight Cat: 55, 66,
84 Kg.
18:00-18:30: Weigh-in.
September
5
09:00-12:00: Elimination rounds for Cat: 55, 66, 84 Kg.
12:00: Final entries deadline for Cat: 60, 74, 96, 120 Kg.
15:00-16:00: Medical Examination for weight Cat: 60, 74, 96,
120 Kg.
16:00-16:30: Weigh-in.
17:00-18:00: Opening Ceremonies
18:00-21:00: Continuations of the competitions.
September
6
09:00-12:00: Elimination rounds Cat: 60, 74, 96, 120 Kg. Semi-final
rounds for 55, 66, 84 Kg.
17:00-20:00: Continuations of the competitions in 60, 74, 96,
120 Kg. The Final and awarding ceremonies for 55, 66, 84 Kg.
September
7
09:00-12:00: Semi-final rounds for 60, 74, 96, 120 Kg.
17:00-20:00: Final and awarding ceremonies for 60, 74, 96, 120
Kg. & team classification ceremonies
21:00: Banquet
September
8: Departure of delegations.
All
times above are local Tehran time, which is presently +0430 UTC,
and is on daylight savings time.
The
official web site for this event, from which much of this information
is taken, is:
We
will keep you up-to-date as to where results of this event will
be posted.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
Kid
Peligro Jiu-Jitsu News . . . Mega Tournaments and more!
By: Kid Peligro
After returning
to cyber home from all the excitment of Pride Dynamite event
Kid was happy to hear that two Mega BJJ and one major Grappling
events are just ahead. First is the II United Gracie BJJ Tournament.
Promoter Charles Gracie informed us that ESPN is sowing strong
interest in covering the event. ESPN has been working on a Gracie
Special that is supposed to air on October of this year and this
event may be part of the program.
The event is
taking place on 28 & 29 of September at the San Francisco
State University (Main Gym), 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco,
CA 94132
Already confirmed
to appear at the United Gracie are Black Belts: Sandro Batata,
Roberto 'Gordo' Correa, Alexandre 'Soca' and 2002 World Champions
Marcio Feitosa, Fabio Leopoldo & Carlos 'Escorrega'. In addition
to these there will be Rickson Gracie's Mauricio Costa, Paragon's
Rodrigo Guimaraes Brazilian Top Team's Renato Tavares and Sonequinha's
'Vandame'
For more information
and to register call Charles Gracie (650)756-7579, or email charles@charlesgracie.com
or check out the web www.charlesgracie.com
Last year the
event had over 500 participants and 3000 spectators. Make sure
to attend as Grappling Magazine, Gracie Magazine, ADCC News and
On the Mat.com will all be there covering every move!
Next up is ADCC
World Submission Championships U.S. Trials. To be held on October
5th at the palacial Aventine Gym in San Diego, California this
event will have some of the top grapplers in America. Previous
winners include U.F.C. Champion Dave Menne, Roger Neff, Mike
Cardoso, Travis Lutter, Marc Laimon, Denis Hallman, Matt Serra
and even Pride sensation Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira. The big
fest will qualify 5 lucky winners with air fare, paid accomodations
and a berth in the 2003 ADCC Tournament that may be held in Brazil!
! !
For more information
email migueli@pa.net . Next week ADCC News will annouce
the complete list of participants.
Source: Abu
Dhabi
World
Extreme CageFighting Opens to Mixed Reviews on the East Coast
A deprived draw, feeble referring, and one of the slated co-main
events not happening could not hinder all of the excitement that
World Extreme CageFighting 4 brought to the East coast for the
first time Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville,
Ct.
The
Mohegan Sun arena was considerably empty as the card, which was
billed as East coast vs. West coast, started; this was due to
what WEC promoter, Reed Harris, calls a “major mistake”
on the part of Tickets.com, who he claims announced that the
show had been sold out for several weeks. The crowd of around
3,000 was dotted throughout the 8,000-seat arena and was lucky
enough to watch Jeremy Horn and youngster Richard Crunkilton
dazzle with their dominant and decisive submission victories.
In
the Main event, Pat Miletich-trained and Team Extreme standout
Horn notched another victory in his long and illustrious career.
Matched up against a svelte Aaron Brink in the classic grappler
vs. striker contest, Horn quickly forced the action into the
fence where he worked for a takedown. As Brink scrambled to regain
his feet, Horn sunk his hooks in and finished the fight 54 seconds
into the first round with a rear naked choke. Brink, who looked
out of place on the mat with the seasoned Horn, did not attack
aggressively in the opening of the round, something he is known
for.
The
co-main event that pitted Cole “The Apache Kid” Escovedo
against Renat Myrzabekov for the WEC featherweight title did
not occur due to Myrzabekov failing the medical requirements
set by the Mohegan tribal commission.
One
of American Kickboxing Academy young stars, Richard “Cleat”
Crunkilton displayed extraordinary amounts of balance with his
takedown defense while deftly reversing every attempt by Luciano
Olivaria. When finally brought to the mat, Crunkilton neatly
applied a triangle choke. As Olivaria sat around to defend, Crunkilton
switched to an armbar forcing the tapout at 1:55 of the first
round.
UFC
veterans faced off in a middleweight battle when Tony “The
Freak” Fryklund met up with Zack Light. Fryklund, who has
been on a tear as of late training with the Miletich crew, looked
to direct the fight with his noticeably larger frame. Light,
taking a page from his handler Tito Ortiz, controlled the stand
up game while taking Fryklund down three times, two of which
were Matt Hughes-esque slams.
From
inside Fryklund’s guard, Light began to work the ground
and pound, but undeterred, the “Freak” secured a kimura
on Light’s left arm. With Light’s right arm trapped
in between the fighters, referee Mike Stalk, who was grossly
out of position, seemingly halted the bout when Fryklund claimed
Light verbally tapped. As the fighters separated, Light was livid,
insisting he did not tap. The officials correctly awarded the
fight to Fryklund, in a fight that echoed the Bustmante/Linland
armbar incident. Fryklund would have finished had the match not
been stopped.
Doing
battle for the WEC lightweight title was Kurt Pellegrino from
Team Renzo Gracie and rAw fighter Mac Danzig. This fight was
a rematch from a bout that some felt had a controversial ending,
when Danzig received a large cut. Pellegrino put the controversy
to rest by winning a unanimous decision to capture the WEC crown.
Pellegrino controlled most of this fight with his tight G-n-P
game, getting a takedown early in round one and working from
inside Danzig’s guard. The only real action was in the second
round where Pellegrino landed a stiff jab that staggered Danzig.
Pellegrino tried to capitalize with a flurry, but was unable
to finish. Round three saw more lackluster action as Pellegrino
controlled the fight from the top position.
Eric
Mainiai’s first mixed martial bout was a rough one as he
got steamrolled by John Rallo from Team Renzo Gracie. Rallo came
out guns blazing, forcing Mainiai into the fence. Rallo then
caught a knee attempt and with little effort hoisted the AKA
fighter into the air, slamming him hard to the mat. Rallo attempted
to finish the contest with a few submissions which were skillfully
avoided by Mainiai, who looked much more comfortable on the ground.
Rallo worked the match back to their feet and landed a barrage
of blows to his counterpart forcing the ref stoppage at 3:03
of round one.
In
a fight that was marred with dreadful decisions by referee Josh
Rosenthal, Chris Wellisch and Jay White fought their hearts out.
Round one saw White dominating all aspects of the fight game;
he landed solid punch combinations while avoiding takedown attempts.
Towards the end of round one, White landed a right cross that
floored Wellisch. Quickly regaining his composure, Wellisch covered
up in the turtle position as White scrambled onto his opponent.
Rosenthal halted the bout -- to the dismay of both fighters as
White had superior position and Wellisch believed the fight was
stopped -- believing Wellisch was out.
After
a discussion with officials, the contest resumed. Round two was
filled with flailing fists, as both men hammered away at each
other, White being more precise with his punches. Gassing considerably,
both men were once again stopped by the referee, who thought
the round had ended. Rosenthal’s judgments were only 20
seconds off.
As
round three began, both men were gun shy, trying to conserve
as much energy as possible. Wellisch, who was well behind on
the scorecards, made his move, landing a single leg takedown.
The instant White was mounted by Wellisch, he began tapping.
Rosenthal missed the tap, and White continued to tap while Wellisch
landed at least 10 more clean shots to the face before Rosenthal
jumped in. This was blunder number three by Rosenthal and this
time the safety of Jay White come into jeopardy.
White
was a completely exhausted and had to be carried out on a stretcher.
Showing a tremendous resistance to abuse, Wellisch absorbed numerous
shots. The AKA fighter’s celebration was reminiscent of
Jimmy “Super Fly” Snuka, as he perched atop the cage
playing up the crowd.
Last
minute replacement and hometown favorite, Randy “The Savage”
Rowe earned a DQ victory when rAw fighter Jason Jones clocked
him after the bell in round one. Jones, who might have been victorious,
sunk a tight triangle for the last 20 seconds of round one. When
the bell rang, the much taller Jones released the lock and Rowe
fell to the mat. When he “woke up” he lunged at Jones,
who then landed a vicious uppercut to the befuddled Rowe. A scuffle
ensued and Jones and his contingency were escorted to the back.
“The Savage” was later awarded the victory.
Mike
Swick had five inches on James Gabert and he used every one of
them to his advantage earning a majority decision. Working effective
knees from the clinch and landing a stream of high kicks, Swick
opened a large gash on the head of Gabert. The Renzo Gracie-trained
Gabert used a right-left-leg kick combination skillfully throughout
the bout. Trading throughout the contest, both fighters earned
the respect of the crowd.
The
opening bout matched highly touted Bao Quach from Next Generation
against Team Extreme and Pedro Sauer Jiu-Jitsu fighter Jeff Curran.
With Chris Brennan in his corner, Quach quickly took Curran to
the mat. Curran’s constant sweep attacks kept Quach at bay
from inside his guard. Quach never got started with his pound-and-pass
style as he looked off balanced and hesitant to be reversed.
Round two and three saw Curran control the stand up with some
stiff jabs and several well timed push kicks to the mid-section
of Quach. When the fight was on the ground Curran’s sweeps
continued to hinder the performance of Quach, as Curran reversed
and worked from the top position for a bit. Curran’s performance
earned him a majority decision.
Outside
the cage, UFC veteran Brian Johnston was in attendance, seemingly
well on his way to recovery from a stroke he suffered last year.
Former boxing champion Vinny Pazienza was also in attendance
for the event and this is what he had to say about mixed martial
arts compared to boxing: “I think it’s vicious, it’s
nasty. I think it is cool! I wanted to do it; I wanted to get
my promoter to get me a fight like this, but he wont let me.
I am training to get my 50th win (in boxing) and I entertain
the thought of getting in one of these events. I like a good
f___ing fight. I like to compete. These guys get it on. You have
to have a lot of balls to do this.”
Source:
Maxfighting
9/3/02
Quote
of the Day
"Adventure
is not outside a man. it is within."
David Grayson
Maui's
Warriors of the Ring Fight Card
WARRIORS
OF THE RING
War Memorial Gymnasium, Maui
Saturday, September 7, 2002
Fights start at 7:00PM
I will be flying up to Maui to cover this event for FCF and
this page, so I will report the results as soon as I get back.
If you are in Maui, please come and check out the event and help
support MMA on Maui.
Fight card (subject
to change)
1.
Bake Huttendorf (175 lbs., Kodenkan) vs. Cruz Malaiakini (180
lbs., Maui)
2. Mark Moreno (175 lbs., Bulls Pen) vs. George Mendoza (167
lbs.)
3. Jesus Libero (270 lbs., Wailuku Kickboxing) vs. TBA
4. Tien Nguyen (130 lbs., Wailuku Kickboxing) vs. William Armstrong
(132 lbs., 808 Fight Factory)
5. Anthony Billianor (245 lbs., Lockdown Unlimited) vs. Dez Minor
(215 lbs., Kodenkan)
6. Ed Joy (160 lbs., Team C.O.C.K.) vs. Nassor Lewis (165 lbs.,
808 Fight Factory)
7. Leandro Nyza (145 lbs., Nova Uniao) vs. Dain Agbayani (145
lbs., 808 Fight Factory)
8. Michael Labuanan (165 lbs., Maui Full Contact) vs. Cheyenne
Alesna (170 lbs., Kodenkan)
9. Tyson Coloma Nahooikaika (165 lbs., Brazilian Freestyle J.J.)
vs. Corey Goeas (167 lbs., Kodenkan)
Source: Event Promoter
UFC's
Lightweight Contender DIN THOMAS
On September 27, the
UFC brings back the past, with a four man tournament that will
eventually decide the lightweight championship. Matt Serra, BJ
Penn, Din Thomas, and Caol Uno will enter the Octagon to show
who the best trained lightweight in the world is on that night.
Just how hard
is it training for the tournament. I bring to you a series of
interviews from the lightweights dealing with the hardships of
training for the title. First, Din Thomas discusses his training
methods for the tournament.
ADCC:
Din is this the first time you fought in a MMA tournament format?
Din: No actually, some of my earliest beginnings were tournament
style.
ADCC:
Din, how is training going for your up coming tournament in the
UFC?
Din: It couldn't be better. I actually like to train and get
better.
ADCC:
How is training for a tournament different from just for a single
match?
Din: There's no difference. I'm focusing on what I can do, not
what other people can do.
ADCC:
What is your primary focus in training for a tournament style
MMA match?
Din: Improvements and minimizing mistakes.
ADCC:
Do you have a personal trainer?
Din: Nah, nothing specific.
ADCC:
How many hours a day are you doing cardio?
Din: My fight will only last 15 minutes at the most. So I don't
do cardio for much more than that.
ADCC:
What types of cardio training are you doing?
Din: Interval training.
ADCC:
What about weights?
Din: I do lift weights. I lift for power so its a lot different
from body building. Most people in the gym probably think I'm
doing it all wrong.
ADCC:
Tell us about your diet for the tournament, anything different?
Din: I eat instinctively.
ADCC:
Are you doing plyometrics with anyone?
Din: I do plyometrics with Paul Rodriguez.
ADCC:
What are you doing to improve your standup game?
Din: I'm boxing and kickboxing a lot.
ADCC:
Since you have the possibility of fighting two BJJ Blackbelts,
are your working your ground game more or your wrestling?
Din: I try to work on everything equally. There is no favorable
position.
ADCC:
You know your first opponent is Uno, what specific training are
you doing for him?
Din: I'm not doing too many things specifically for him. I try
to improve my gave so that he will have to adapt to me.
ADCC:
What do you think it will take for any of you four to win the
tournament?
Din: LUCK!!! We can have this tournament 4 times and there will
be 4 different winners each time.
ADCC:
Thanks for your time and good luck with your training.
Din: Thanks 'partner'.
Source: ADCC
News
from the BTT!
The exportation of
the Brazilian TOP TEAM continues! Mario Sperry just got back
from to Brazil from Japan, where he will tune up for his next
match against RINGS veteran Andrey Kopilov. Sperry was at the
PRIDE DYNAMITE show, and when asked about the much talked about
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' and Bob Sapp bout, Mario spoke: 'I never
saw a fight like that! Did you see the movie BRAVEHEART? I thought
I was in the middle of the highlands of Scotland with 'Minotauro'
fighting like Mel Gibson! You can pick any of the battle scenes
and I tell you this was similar to the fight.'
Mario is getting ready
for his next fight, and told us that his next battle in September
will be more exciting than the last one in the UFO show. 'After
the cut I got, I had to slow down the pace because the referee
told me if the cut kept bleeding they would stop the fight and
I would lose. I had to play it smart and easy.' Stay tuned for
an interview with Mario Sperry.
Mario just got back,
but another part of the team left for Japan for DEEP 6th Impact.
UFC middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante will be the head
coach for this trip, with fighters Rogerio 'Minotoro', Gilson
Capixu and Fabio Melo taking on Japanese fighters. Minotoro will
be facing the experienced Tsuyoshi Kosaka, Capixu will fight
against Ryuki Ueyama and Fabio Melo will be facing the ADCC veteran
Takumi Yano.
Murilo recommends
that everybody keep an eye on Fabio Melo. 'This boy is a real
machine' stated Bustamante.
As for Murilo, he
is still under negotiations with ZUFFA and the situation between
him and the UFC seems complicated. Hopefully there will be good
news soon regarding this subject.
Source: ADCC
PRIDE's
Challenge: Minotauro versus Josh Barnett
Although there has
been much talk about Josh Barnett entering the pro wrestling
world, it's almost certain that he will still fight in Mixed
Martial arts after his suspension by the Nevada State Commission
is lifted. Many believe that pro wrestling is inevitable for
Josh but MMA is in his blood and there ARE a few fights that
he truly wants.
One of them is of
course, Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira. Truly established as the
#1 heavyweight in the world, Barnett realizes he must beat the
Brazilian to take the top spot. Unlike most heavyweight fighters,
these two compete like lightweights with fluent transitions,
submissions and both are highly skilled at striking.
Josh Barnett officially
issued the challenge on 8/28 to Nogiuera, after the MINOTAUR
defeated Barnett's teammate Bob Sapp in the final round at Pride
'Shockwave.'
Barnett still has
roughly four months left on his suspension but it appears there
is high interest from Pride.
Source: ADCC
HOOKnSHOOT
Promoter JEFF OSBORNE
Only five days until the HOOKnSHOOT
'NEW WIND' show at the Memorial Coliseum in Evansville, IN. The
night will be packed with some exciting fights, including HnS
145 lb Champion Anthony Hamlett taking on ATT's Hermes Franca,
several SHOOTO stars, the return of Yves Edwards and the two
great women's contender fights. With his busy schedule Mr. HOOKnSHOOT,
Jeff Osborne has taken time out of his busy shedule to give us
some insight into the upcoming card and some inside UFC secrets!
ADCC: Jeff, tell us
a little about the upcoming show this weekend. Jeff: It's our
first show back in a few months and I truly believe that the
lineup is strong. The Japanese SHOOTORS are back, Hermes Franca
vs. Anthony Hamlett for the 145lbs title and all sorts of interesting
matchups.
ADCC: What do you
consider to be the best matchup of the night. Jeff: The most
evenly matched fight on the card has got to be Angela Wilson
vs. Tara LaRosa. These two are almost mirror images. Both highly
skilled in MMA-style Judo, both have boxing backgrounds and they're
both cool. I think this single match could steal the show. I'm
also excited about seeing Yves Edwards back in HnS but he has
a hard fight, against Kohei Yasumi, so it is hard to gauge.
ADCC: Yves Edwards
is returning to HnS after a three fight deal with UFC, will he
get another shot at the UFC after this fight? Jeff: Not sure,
I can't speak for UFC but I do know that Yves wants in. After
a KO victory in his last fight, you would think that's what the
fans want to see. His two 'losses' were decisions but they were
exciting. I think he knew he had to open up last time and he
did it. UFC is doing so many things and have so many fighters
that are coming in so it's hard to say. Let's hope there is something
happening with TV so everyone gets more work! I think this will
be a key factor in fighters laying it all on the line and performing
at their best.
ADCC: Anthony Hamlet,
the 145 lb Champion. is fighting Hermes Franca, What do you think
this matchup will look like on fight night? Jeff: Hamlet is VERY
unassuming. He defeated Jeff Curran back in November to capture
the championship and I remember a fan saying 'he doesn't look
like a fighter'. Hermes, in my honest opinion, could be in the
UFC if he wins this fight. I know it's at 145lbs but he walks
around in the high 150lbs and improves in every fight. He has
some spectacular finishes and is quite a character but Hamlet
is VERY unpredictable and has beaten some great fighters on our
show.
ADCC: I just viewed
the Revolution DVD, it was an awesome night of fights, what has
been your feed back on the event. Jeff: I've had nothing but
positive reviews. I'm so happy about it and so are the women.
Right now, were in talks with a major marketing company to take
the DVD mainstream. If this happens we attack people who've never
seen the sport before. This will be great for everyone but we're
still in the works.
ADCC: Have you had
any negative feed back about your all women's show? Jeff: Nothing
at all. That's what I'd like to hear more than anything. I'm
more interested in hearing what can be improved that what is
good. My only complaint is that there are only about 20 legitimate
women fighters. I hope that more come out of the gym and into
the ring. I would gladly run another all-women even if there
were only 6 more fighters to choose from.
ADCC: Jeff, let's
talk about your entrance into the UFC commentating, how did that
take place? Jeff: I had been calling MMA since 1996 and we got
on TV in 1997 with HOOKnSHOOT. I also have a pro wrestling background
and was taught by two of the best, which enables me to help,
get storylines over...at least I think (ha ha). I sent a tape
in to Dana White and Joe Silva and was flown to Vegas for a tryout.
The tryout was disastrous but I guess they had enough faith in
me to try it out. I'm trying to open up more with each show and
offer more insight the best I can. I gotta thank Zuffa and Joe
for the opportunity. It's a dream come true for me.
ADCC: How has being
behind the camera changed your perspective on the UFC? Jeff:
I've always done something in the video world since I started
going to UFC's. It doesn't bother me. I get unbelievably nervous
at the rehearsals but when it goes live, it doesn't bother me
at all. I really love it! Say what you want about Mike Goldberg
but the guy is incredible at what he does. There's no way I can
'direct traffic' like Mike does. I would not want his job!
ADCC: Do you have
any insight on the heavyweight bout coming up in the next UFC?
Jeff: It's going to be an interesting matchup. Ricco is VERY
hungry but Randy is a veteran that wants his gold back. Until
Barnett, Randy had never been defeated. Ricco seems to get more
aggressive every fight. I think it's a fairly even match but
I'd give a slight edge to Ricco in the striking department. I
don't see Ricco avoiding the takedown the longer the fight goes.
I may eat my words but I think this fight will go at least three
rounds.
ADCC: What do you
think about the lightweight tournament and how that is shaping
up? Jeff: That division gets more and more exciting all the time.
Serra vs. Penn is a BJJ dream match. A lot is on the line in
that one. Serra looks great at 155lbs and is one of the most
exciting fighters who fights to finish. BJ brings an aura to
the ring like no one else. He seemingly turned into a MMA star
overnight and has lived up to it. I don't know who to pick but
I think one of those two will be champion down the road.
ADCC: Jeff, thanks
for your time. Jeff: No problem. Thank you
Source: ADCC
9/2/02
Quote
of the Day
The
gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without
trials.
Chinese proverb
Relson
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Picnic Today
Academia
Casca Grossa de Jiu-Jitsu (Aiea) hosts the annual Labor Day picnic
at Ala Moana Beach Park today!
Here are the details:
What:
Picnic to
help bring the various Relson Gracie academy students together
to have fun and meet each other. (ie. Team Unity)
Who: All Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
students and their families are invited
Where: "Key Hole"
at Ala Moana Beach Park
(the circular piece of grassy area by the tennis courts)
When: September 2nd, 6:00AM-6:00PM
(usually later)
What to bring:
Potluck,
so bring a dish and or drinks. If you don't know what to bring,
call Mike's cell.
Activities:
Eating, drinking, socializing,
emotionally debilitating volleyball (heckling allowed), water
football, emotionally scarring Neal and Brandon, and sometimes
horseshoes (if someone brings it). Feel free to bring anything
else.
Other benefits
include: Hard evidence to
our significant others why we spend so much time at Jiu-Jitsu,
socializing of course.
Robson
Moura takes on Mamoru & Shaolin takes on Tsuruya on same
card
The
two top Nova Uniao BJJ black belts fight in Japan on the same
card.
SHOOTO Announces Full September Card!
Date: September 16th, 2002
Area: Kanagawa
Place: Yokohama Culture Gymnasium
Promoter: Sustain
Complete
Card:
Class B 2 x 5 minutes
rounds Lightweight [-65.0Kg] Makoto Ishikawa vs. Eiji Murayama
Class A 3 x 5 minutes rounds Bantamweight [-56.0Kg] Mamoru vs.
Robson Moura
Lightweight [-65.0Kg] Naoya Uematsu vs. Bao Quach
Featherweight [-60.0Kg] Survivor Tournament First Round Kentaro
Imaizumi vs. ABKZ
Welterweight [-70.0Kg] Hiroshi Tsuruya vs. Vitor Ribeiro
Lightweight [-65.0Kg] Tetsuo Katsuta vs. Norifumi 'KID' Yamamoto
Welterweight [-70.0Kg] Takanori Gomi (Welterweight Champ) vs.
Chris Brennan
Featherweight [-60.0Kg] Championship: Masahiro Oishi vs. Hisao
Ikeda
Source: ADCC
Thomas
Braces Himself for Lightweight Tourney
The lightweight division
of the UFC is arguably the most competitive weight class in mixed
martial arts. Names like Penn, Uno, Thomas, Serra and Sudo tightly
pack it with talented title contenders. After contract negotiations
between lightweight champion Jens Pulver and Zuffa failed, however,
the wealth of skill formed a bottleneck at the top of the division.
Pulver's exit had
spawned disarray; fans barked disapproval at Zuffa for releasing
Pulver while too many challengers licked their lips in anticipation
of a title shot. The 155-pound class needed something that could
salvage fans' interest while repairing the confusion caused by
Pulver' s departure.
Zuffa delivered with
a four-man elimination tournament spread across two shows. Some
followers still bitterly reprimand them regarding Pulver, but
many have been captivated by the forthcoming first round clashes
between BJ Penn and Matt Serra, and Din Thomas and Caol Uno.
The tournament format has also solved the question concerning
who should fight for the title; the opening round winners will
face off for the gold at a later UFC.
Din Thomas agrees
with Zuffa's thinking. "This is the only real way to clarify
who's going to be the champion," he said. "I think
it's the only thing that made sense at the time."
Some critics contend
that the UFC lightweight title is meaningless because Pulver
left without losing in the Octagon. "I think that's bullshit,"
said Thomas, who holds a submission victory over Pulver, on the
subject. "It may mean something to us fighters and the fans,
but realistically, as the UFC progresses, whoever is holding
that belt at the time will ultimately be the champion. As more
fans get involved, if Jens ain't there, people are going to say
Jens who? We'll know Jens was the champion, but to the new fans,
it' s not really going to matter that much."
Thomas is familiar
with the other three men that comprise the field. He has fought
both Penn and Uno and was scheduled to scrap with Serra in March,
but an injury forced him to the sidelines. "I had a torn
meniscus," Thomas explained. "It was split like a bagel."
The bout against Serra
would have been a pivotal battle, a win commanding a title shot,
a loss tripping him down the ladder. A golden opportunity to
make a move was stolen away by the injury, however, and Thomas
admits his initial disappointment. "At first it was [frustrating],"
he said, "but in my career right now, I'm trying to be in
it for the long haul. I'm not trying to be some one hit wonder.
So it doesn't matter. In all actuality, it may have helped me
out a little bit."
Dr. John Keating,
a respected Atlanta physician who has dabbled in promoting mixed
martial arts, operated on Thomas. For the following two months,
Thomas walked on crutches, waiting patiently for a full recovery.
He now says the injury has completely healed, and "it's
like nothing ever happened."
Off the disabled list
and back on the mat, training camp has begun for Thomas' September
27 encounter with Caol Uno. Rumors have spread that Thomas has
aligned himself with the talent-rich American Top Team, which
is affiliated with Brazilian Top Team and located near Thomas
in Florida. He would neither confirm nor deny the reports, but
hinted that he is preparing with more than his typical group
of partners. "I'm definitely training with my guys here
in Orlando," Thomas said. "Paul Rodriguez, Richie Crunkilton
and a slew of other guys on the roster. And then I got a bunch
of guys -- it's a secret."
Whomever Thomas is
training with, they're prepping him for a second showdown against
Uno. The Japanese competitor triumphed in the first meeting,
which took place three years ago in Shooto. Reflecting on his
inexperience at the time, Thomas figures he had about four professional
fights under his belt. Of course, those were small, local matches.
Nothing had prepared him for a trip across the globe to fight
the man who had just conquered Rumina Sato during Sato's heyday.
"Realistically,
I was a little overwhelmed and a little intimidated," Thomas
acknowledged. "Especially being in Japan by myself pretty
much. I just wasn't there 100-percent mentally to fight somebody
of his caliber."
Thomas wasn't even
sure how high Uno's "caliber" would prove to be. "I
didn 't know too much about him," he said. "All I knew
was that he beat Sato."
Despite his greenness,
Thomas pushed the Shooto champion for nearly three full rounds.
He had a significant reach advantage and successfully kept the
fight standing in the opening five minutes. Uno attempted several
takedowns, but Thomas defended by quickly sprawling and using
his superior strength. As the fight moved to the second and third
rounds, Uno found a way to ground Thomas, though only temporarily.
With less than two minutes remaining, however, Uno slipped on
a rear naked choke while Thomas was working back to his feet.
Giving his back without tucking his chin was the mark of a rookie,
but battling Uno for 13 minutes was the glimmer of a future star.
Three years of training
and mixing it up with the best in the world has developed a Din
Thomas that transcends the 1999 version Uno met. "I'm a
whole different fighter than I was when I fought him the first
time," Thomas said. "All my training habits were really
poor. I was training with guys who never trained before. Whoever
I could spar with at the time, I would get in there and spar
with them. It could just be my friends, just anything. It was
just awful."
Scanning Thomas' résumé
confirms that his training has progressed profoundly. Since the
loss to Uno, he has finished former UFC champion Jens Pulver
with an inside heel hook, stopped presently sixth-ranked lightweight
Dokonjonosuke Mishima with punches, submitted presently seventh-ranked
featherweight Stephen Palling with a triangle choke, defeated
Fabiano Iha and amassed several other smaller victories.
Thomas doesn't feel
Uno's game has made a similar leap forward. "I haven't really
seen much improvement from him since then," Thomas commented.
"He's doing the same things now that he did then. He's showed
a little variation in some of his previous fights, but he hasn't
really been on a roll lately. He doesn't have a lot of momentum
going with him other than his last couple fights. I think I'm
catching him at a good time. To me, he's kind of going downhill."
Although he has an
opportunity to avenge one of the two defeats on his record, Thomas
says he is not fueled by revenge. "I'm not a sore loser,"
he said. "He beat me. That was a long time ago. I don't
really care. Everybody who fights is going to end up losing.
I don't care about rematches; I just go out there to fight. And
I'm pretty confident this time that I'm going to beat him.
Thomas' game plan
three years ago was to keep the fight standing, and he may have
a similar objective at UFC 39. "Uno likes to work angles;
so do I," Thomas said. "He doesn't have a hard punch,
but because he puts himself in positions to hit you, his punches
can be effective. I think I hit a lot harder. I think I'm a lot
bigger and stronger. As long as I can keep him from setting the
pace and getting in his rhythm, I can keep him in my rhythm.
I think I won't have much of a problem with him on the feet."
Uno's strategy will
likely focus on taking the fight to the mat. Thomas says he's
aware of that, but it's also vital to keep an open mind when
competing against a veteran like Uno. "He may try to trick
me and come up top," noted Thomas, "but I'm ready for
anything."
Even if taken down,
Thomas is confident. He has shown skills from both his back and
the top position; although, he feels the sport hasn't necessarily
noticed. "I think a lot of people underestimate my ground
game," he said. "Because, you know, for the longest
time I've always wanted to stand up and punch. I don't even like
being on the ground too much. But when it comes to the ground,
I'm no stranger. I think when I first fought him, like I said,
I was a little bit intimidated. But now, if he gets me on the
ground, I don't care. I spend most of my time grappling anyway."
Both fighters are
known as entertaining competitors, and Thomas foresees UFC 39
solidifying those reputations. "One thing you can expect
from Uno is he likes to keep a fast pace," Thomas said.
"And it depends on his opponents. A lot of the fighters
that fight Uno, they like to kind of stall and maybe try to catch
him and knock him out. I think Uno is going to try to keep the
pace fast. For every step he takes a little faster, I'm going
to take it a little bit faster on him."
There are no shortcuts
to the title. Someone will have to march through two of the best
lightweights in the world. Thomas anticipates stern challenges
in the opening round and in the championship bout, but believes
he'll be tested differently depending on his foe: "I would
say mentally, fighting Uno is going to be harder, but physically,
fighting either Matt or BJ will be harder. For the fact that
I think that Uno himself is not a very physical guy, but he's
a mental fighter. He tries to beat you up in your mind first,
and then he takes it to you. But I think with BJ and Matt, fighting
with those two guys, I know what they got coming at me -- great
ground, good up top. So it's going to be a little harder physically,
but I don't have to worry about them trying to do things mentally
to beat me."
Thomas wouldn't predict
a winner for the Penn-Serra match, though he plans on fighting
whoever prevails. "Ultimately, I kind of wanted to fight
BJ," he said. "Just because, I think BJ's a good fighter.
When I fought him the first time, I was a little cocky, a little
arrogant. I want to prove to myself that I can fight him tougher
than I fought him the first time."
On the other hand,
if Thomas wins but Penn falls, then the cancelled match from
March between Serra and Thomas will have simply been rescheduled
-- but for the lightweight title this time. "In essence,"
Thomas concluded, "I want to fight the winner because the
winner of that fight will be the better man, and I always want
to fight the better man."
Source: Maxfighting.com
- Joe Hall
Gracie
Unfiltered: Royce and Royler Talk on the Eve of “Shockwave”
Q&A by Josh Gross
Nearly a decade has
passed since Royce Gracie and his family brand of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
first sent a pulse through the martial arts world. Wednesday
night in Japan, Royce steps into the ring in a fight that could
play out like a replay of 1993, when style vs. style was the
point, and the “Gracie Train” was just a concept.
Though the pressure
surrounding Royce’s bout with Hidehiko Yoshida, a Judo gold
medallist in the ’92 Olympic games, is entirely different
than his early UFC bouts when he successfully introduced the
Gracie name and trademark to the world, the Brazilian legend
has more to lose than perhaps any other member of the Gracie
clan save Rickson.
With his reputation
on the line, and the pride of his family placed on his shoulders
once again, Royce held a training camp for the first time since
the summer of 2000 when he lost an epic battle to Kazushi Sakuraba.
MaxFighting.com was
granted access to one of his final training sessions before heading
to Japan, and following the early morning workout in Hermosa
Beach, Calif., Royce and his brother Royler, who flew in from
Brazil to aid in the preparation, sat down and spoke with us
over breakfast.
J.G.: I think people
are excited about seeing you fight again. It’s been two
years.
Royce: It’s going
to be a big one.
J.G.: Eighty thousand
people.
Royce: I heard the
stadium holds 100,000, but I heard they’re going to sell
about 80-85,000, only.
J.G.: Only! Yeah right,
that’s amazing.
Royce: It’s the
biggest one so far. Tokyo Dome is how many people?
Royler: Sixty thousand.
J.G.: I was there
at Pride 17 when (Vanderlei) Silva fought (Kazushi) Sakuraba…
Royce: The second
time? I was there.
J.G.: It was amazing
just to feel the energy of the crowd. I was on the floor. I don’t
think the fans in the U.S. can understand that right now.
Royce: In Japan, I’d
say out of 85,000 I’d say two-thirds are fans and one-third
is martial artist people. In America everybody is martial artists;
there’s not many (casual) fans. In Japan if you ask around
the crowd they’ve never done martial arts. They’re
just fans who came to watch the show.
J.G.: Yeah, in the
U.S. everybody has their jiu-jitsu shirts on. I think that’s
how the sport survived in the U.S. People started training. The
sport was almost dead for four years, but it’s starting
to come back strong now.
Royce: Now they’re
putting it on FOX. That’s good.
J.G.: Really good.
Royce: It’s good
for the show, a big break through, man. I think the people are
starting to get more comfortable. The people in FOX, the sponsors
are realizing it’s not that violent. It’s violent like
any other sport, like a boxing match.
J.G.: People are used
to watching it now. Before they didn’t know what was happening
on the ground, or what was going on. I talked to the Vice President
of FOX sports before the first show on FOX and he said ‘well,
we’re not ready to run live fights because we’re not
comfortable with that.’
Royce: (Laughs.)
J.G.: But they’re
OK with taped fights.
Royce: You just have
to make it exciting with some good matches.
J.G.: What do you
think? Do you watch it? Are you still a fan of it?
Royce: Oh, yeah. I’ve
been on the road so much, traveling. If I have a chance and sit
down with the guys I’ll watch it. If not I’ll try to
have a video tape made up. I’ve missed it once or twice,
but most of the time I’ll watch it. It’s part of my
business, man. I have to keep up with it.
J.G.: How’s it
down in Brazil? It’s not doing too well, right?
Royler: Nowadays they
stop a little bit because they have a lot of problems.
Royce: What kind of
problems?
Royler: There’s
too much news and controversy. But in the South of Brazil they
have a big event.
J.G.: MECA?
Royler: Yes, MECA.
It’s very good and very organized. There are no fights outside
the ring.
J.G.: That’s
the only big show, huh.
Royler: Yeah, that’s
the only one. There have been a couple in Rio, but they stopped.
J.G.: That’s
strange because Brazil’s had such an influence on the sport.
Royler: Yeah, but
beside this, the big names, they don’t go in these events
because they don’t pay so good. For the guys that already
have the name, they fight outside of Brazil.
J.G.: Do they show
it a lot on television?
Royler: Yeah, they
show it on TV.
J.G.: Wasn’t
Vitor Belfort’s fight versus Chuck Liddell on live in Brazil?
Royler: Yeah, everybody
watched it. It was on a regular channel.
J.G.: What did you
think?
Royler: It was a good
fight. Chuck Liddell is good in stand up and he’s smart
on the floor too. You make a mistake standing up and it’s
over. Vitor had a good fight but he made one mistake.
J.G.: Do you still
want to fight?
Royce: He’s actually
negotiating right now.
Royler: We’re
trying to work on something. Maybe PRIDE, we’re not sure.
Royce: PRIDE, UFC…whatever.
With us there’s always negotiations on the table. There’s
always offers. You just gotta negotiate. You just gotta get your
managers to do their job.
Royler: I’d really
like to come back, you know.
Royce: We just haven’t
reached agreement yet.
Royler: Maybe before
the end of the year.
J.G.: Is there anyone
you want to fight?
Royler: I’d like
to fight someone in my class, but all the time they offer me
someone big. What can I do?
J.G.: Do you want
to fight at 145 or 155 pounds?
Royler: One hundred
fifty to 155. Around my size you know, nothing too big. If they
offer me 200 lbs. [fighter], I’ll fight.
Royce: You have got
to negotiate for that!
J.G.: The sport looks
so different today. The old fights are fun to watch because you
know what you’re watching and you know exactly what it is,
but it looks so different then what it looks like today.
Royce: Tell the truth,
you’re probably one of those guys that cheered for Dan Severn
to beat me. ‘Oh man, Royce caught him again today. Let me
rewind and see if he loses this time. Oh man he caught him with
a triangle again!’
J.G.: My favorite
is Jeff Blatnik commenting that you didn’t have any power
in your legs. ‘There’s nothing there, he does have
a choke’ and the next thing you see is tap, tap, tap.
Royce: You have to
listen to the fight between Jeff (Blatnik) and Jim Brown. Man,
Jeff is doing the talking and Jim Brown is getting pissed. He
quieted down. He’s getting nervous. You don’t hear
much of Jim Brown talking, just Jeff talking ‘Oh Royce has
nothing, he’s in trouble, he’s going to lose, there’s
no way he’s going to win’ -- as soon as I catch Dan
Severn, Jim Brown, he must have got up, and said ‘Don’t
ever talk bad about my boy! That’s my boy! Don’t you
ever talk like that about the Gracies.’
J.G.: What do you
think when you watch the old fights?
Royce: Fun (laughing).
Entertaining man.
J.G.: What are your
favorite fights to watch?
Royce: Orlando Weit
versus that kickboxer from New York I think. Oh man, Orlando
Weit just throws a kick right through his head. Pat Smith against
the Ninjitsu guy (Scott Morris). He mounted the guy and elbowed
him in the face. Remco Pardeol and Orlando Weit. Man, those were
some exciting matches.
J.G.: You like the
brutal fights. Do think the sport’s missing that now?
Royce: Today I think
it changed a little bit because everybody is an all around fighter.
You see the wrestlers knocking people out. You see the boxers
choking people out. It became an all around type of deal, so
it’s not about styles anymore, it’s about athletes.
J.G.: The way the
fights are now it’s almost hard to watch if they did style
vs. style because you already know what happens. You already
proved what happens. Guys learned from that and that’s why
everyone is starting to become complete fighters now. I don’t
know if you could do that anymore. I think it was a once in a
lifetime kind of thing. The right time at the right place.
Royce: It was definitely
eye opening for the world, so yeah, you could say that my family
changed the world’s point of view in the fighting business.
J.G.: If you came
back and fought today, what weight division would you fight in,
if you fought under the rules in the U.S. now?
Royce: The open weight
division (laughing)…. Like Royler always says, ‘I’m
a man, like anyone else. I’m a fighter, like anyone else.’
So it’s all negotiation. I’m a man, he’s a man.
I’m a fighter, he’s a fighter. They want to put me
up against a 400-lb. 4% body fat monster, hey, sure. Been there,
done that. Let’s negotiate now. I’m not going to walk
away and say ‘he’s not my weight.’ No, no. We
would never hide behind weight divisions, you know what I mean?
A lot of guys out there say ‘well, I only fight at my own
weight.’ I don’t believe in that. On the street, you’re
not going to be picking on fights in your weight division. If
the promoters think this will be a good moneymaker, they’ll
pay to see this fight. People would love to see Bruce Lee fight
Muhammad Ali. Everybody would pay for it. Hey, they’re not
in the same weight division. But, of course, it would never happen.
J.G.: I’m not
so sure. With PRIDE they’d probably figure out a way to
make that fight happen. What do you think about Murilo Bustamante?
Royce: He’s a
good fighter. I like his style.
J.G.: The cool thing
about watching a guy like that is he’s not afraid to go
to the ground, so he’s able to punch really good. A lot
of guys don’t want to go to the ground so their striking
looks sloppy, but he doesn’t care.
Royler: The best fighter
now is “Minotauro” and Murilo Bustamante. The walk
in the ring they’re comfortable.
J.G.: If someone asked
me who the top two fighters in the world are, I’d say Murilo
and then “Minotauro”.
Royce: Excuse me!
J.G.: And Royce Gracie.
Royce: (Laughing)
The interview is over man; let’s get out of here.
J.G.: Come on, you
have to finish your omelet.
Royce: The guys are
good. I like their style too. I’m a big fan of them.
Royler: You can sit
and watch their fights. It’s not a brutal fight with guys
that punch each other with no technique. It’s good to watch
those guys fight. You asked Royce what fights he likes to see,
well one fight that I saw before that I like is Tito Ortiz and
Frank Shamrock. It was a good fight. And BJ Penn and Jens Pulver
is a very good fight, too. This is exciting. Now they put the
time limit and if you’re in good shape you resist instead
of going forward. The five minute time limit is nothing. Sometimes
you’ll hit the floor with a minute and a half left. You
have to stand up and go to your corner and rest for two minutes
at the end of five minutes. It’s hard to fight through this
kind of program, especially when the guy is stronger and heavier
than you.
J.G.: If you had it
your way you’d have no time limits?
Royler: No. I don’t
like no time limits actually. I believe if you don’t finish
the guy in 30 minutes, you’re not finishing him in more.
That’s my conception. You can open the space in maybe 10,
20, 30 or even 40 minutes is OK, but if the guy has good conditioning
and is very technical it’s not easy. If you put Royce against
Royce it’s hard. The offensive guy would know what the tactical
guy does. They’d fight forever. It’s not easy. It’s
hard work, you know. People think you step in the ring. It’s
not only for having fun or something you like. It’s work.
You’re working hard, training hard, miss your family, if
you have kids you’re not around them much. At least you
make some money. People today say ‘I like to go an fight
because I love to fight.’ I don’t believe this too
much. I believe you like to go and fight but you like the money.
Pay me.
J.G.: There are easier
ways to make a living.
Royler: There are
three [reasons] to be a fighter: you like it, to be famous, and
to make money. Making money is most important because if you
don’t make money what are you after the guy punches you,
and you hurt yourself what do you say when you go home: ‘I
don’t have any money’? What do your kids say to you?
J.G.: More importantly,
what does your wife say to you?
Royler: Yeah (laughing).
J.G.: This is the
first time you trained with Royce in a while.
Royler: We talk on
the phone all the time. He’s busy. I’m busy. This is
the first time in a long time.
Royce: As one of my
cousins put it, growing up as teenagers the whole family was
in Rio. Now we’re spread out so much and people are like
‘Why don’t you train with Rickson?’ Man, Rickson’s
in Brazil. Am I supposed to fly to Brazil? Renzo’s in New
York. Relson’s in Hawaii. Robin is in Spain. Yeah I would
love if everybody was back and Rio and we could all train together,
but we’re spread out so much. There’s a cousin in San
Francisco, a cousin in San Diego, a brother on the East coast,
a brother on the West coast, a brother in Hawaii, a brother in
Europe and in Brazil. We’re all traveling and all have our
own businesses going that it’s hard for us. People ask ‘don’t
you think you should get together with Renzo, Rickson, Royler,
Rolker, Robin, and the Machado brothers like it used to be back
then?’ Well, yeah. But we used to live in the same town.
Now we’re so far spread out it’s hard to get everyone
together. We can’t get everyone together for Christmas and
New Years and that kind of holidays, imagine for fights, it’s
impossible.
J.G.: Renzo’s
had some tough fights recently.
Royler: The guy is
a warrior, man.
Royce: He walks the
walk. At least he puts his face in the ring and fights. He doesn’t
sit on the corner on the bench saying what you should do. He
just walks out there and does it. The only way to lose is to
walk in there and do it.
J.G.: I’d like
to see him fight guys his own weight. I know you say you guys
will fight anyone at anytime, but a certain point I think you
have to realize that fighting someone your own weight is the
thing to do.
Royce: Naaaa…
(laughing).
J.G.: I mean, you
don’t want to end up fighting Josh Barnett or Randy Couture.
Royce: It’s not
the Gracie family, it’s the Crazy family. We’ve got
the Scottish blood, man.
Royler: Like I said,
sometimes you don’t have a choice. They (the promoters)
say they have a guy and then you negotiate. The bottom line is
this is a show. The people sit and watch. It’s like going
to a concert, it’s something you enjoy. They don’t
try and give Royce a guy [that weighs] 140. It doesn’t make
sense. Never do they tell me, ‘Royler, we’ll give you
a guy that weighs 130.’ All the time they ask me [to fight]
someone 200 or over.
Royce: They know that
our name is going to sell out the place. They know we’re
going bring business. They know we’re going to bring excitement
for the show.
J.G.: OK, but you
know there are places you can go and fight and you’re guaranteed
of fighting someone your size. If you fight in the U.S., if you
go fight in the UFC that option is there.
Royler: Yeah, but
it’s still a little bit crazy. You know why? Because the
UFC you check the weight two days before.
Royce: You weigh 180,
drop to 150 and the next day you’re 180 (laughing).
Royler: I saw Tito
Ortiz in Abu Dhabi. He dropped 20 pounds, man, in one day. And
the next day he did it again. Twenty pounds. I saw it, nobody
told me. He used to do this, it’s easy for him. For me it’s
hard. You’re supposed to jump on the scale the time you
step in the ring. OK, that’s the same weight. If it’s
not like that, it’s not the same weight -- no way. Jens
Pulver, BJ Penn, Tito Ortiz: They’re all used to this. They’re
tough already but with the extra weight it’s hard.
J.G.: I suppose people
would feel that if you fought at 155 you’d be fighting someone
your own weight, but cutting weight does make a difference.
Royler: It’s
a business. It’s a show.
Source: Maxfighting - Josh Gross
War
of the Words, Let the Ortiz-Shamrock Hype Begin
It couldn’t have been
more than a minute after UFC light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz
and challenger Ken Shamrock finished promoting their November
22 bout, which takes place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, on
FOX Sports Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show, Period!”
before my phone started to ring.
This first round in
the three-month hype machine that promises to have its ups and
downs, saw both men landed numerous verbal barbs -- some good,
some bad, and some very ugly. However, neither was the clear-cut
victor in this first television face off promoting the bout.
There should be plenty of other opportunities.
Flanked on both sides
by cast members of the BDSSP, Ortiz found himself on the sports
entertainment show for the third time this summer. Shamrock spoke
via satellite from Texas, where he’s preparing for their
pre-Thanksgiving battle.
The sparring between
Ortiz and Shamrock was at times intense; both men spoke over
each other several times. Shamrock dropped the first bomb: “I’m
going to beat you down like the punk that you are,” he scowled
at Ortiz.
“It’s about
time you learn some respect,” he continued as Ortiz sat
quietly, waiting for his turn to respond. “To have guys
like you after the fight is over disrespect people -- the fight
is over, it’s over and you just keep talking crap.”
“It’s gonna
be over,” the champ responded when it was time for him to
chime in. “And your career is going to be over.”
“When I step
in the ring you’re going to have to prove it’s over,”
Shamrock volleyed back, “because I’m coming after you
and I’m taking that belt off of your waist. And when I’m
done with it I may step in your head.”
Tom Arnold, whose
jittery like a gnat when things are calm anyhow, twiddled his
fingers and came to the amazingly perceptive assumption that
Ortiz and Shamrock really don’t like each other, to which
Ortiz concluded that this fight was more than business, it was
personal.
Then the one-liners
started to fly. Anyone who’s been subject to Ortiz’
trash talk in the past knew enough to cover their ears, not wanting
to hear something they’ll probably hear a hundred times
more. Ortiz uttered something about the Wizard of Oz and a lion’s
courage. Shamrock followed by claiming he’d take the champ’s
soul.
Oh yeah, the “trash”
talk is on.
“I am the UFC,”
said Ortiz. Freudian slip perhaps?
“I’ve worked
as hard as I can to get where I am right now,” he continued.
“Ken Shamrock is just a name that I’m going to take.
He’s gonna be a legend. To become a legend you have to beat
a legend. I’m taking names and Ken Shamrock is going to
be the next victim.”
“It doesn’t
matter to me what Tito thinks,” answered Shamrock to a Chris
Rose’ question. “All that matters is what I think,
and come November I’m going to put him down. And after I
put him down I’m going to take that belt; and I’m going
to step over the top of him; and I’m going to look down
at him; and I’m going to show him no respect like he has
nobody else.”
Ortiz shot back with
his best line of the night: “I hope you have Vince McMahon’s
number because I think you’ll be looking for a job after
this one.”
The comment set Shamrock,
a former WWF pro-wrestler, off. “I’m going to hurt
you. I’m going to hurt you,” he promised Ortiz.
Their intensity was
enough to prompt John Salley to proclaim that FOX didn’t
have a hand in the bad blood being spewed on their airwaves.
“This is real,” the former pro basketball player said.
“I’m nervous. I’m sweating. I’ve got to move
over.”
“This is it,”
said Ortiz towards the end of the segment. “I’ve been
waiting all my life for this.”
Not sure about the
rest of my life, but at least the next three months should be
very fun.
Source: Maxfighting - Josh Gross
9/1/02
Quote
of the Day
The
gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without
trials.
Chinese proverb
Relson
Gracie Nationals date is set!
Relson Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy
844 Queen St. 2nd Floor
Honolulu, HI 96813
Tele: (808) 589-2524
Aloha Relson Gracie
Jiu Jitsu Associations!
Relson Gracie Jiu
Jitsu Nationals is on October 26, 2002
at the Greater
Columbus Convention Center! Weigh-ins are on October 25, 2002.
For further information
or if you have any questions you can look on the web
at Gracienational.com or you can E-mail Gracienational@aol.com.
Hope to see you at
Nationals!
Relson Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy - Honolulu, HI
Oh
Yeah - Official rules for Royce/Yoshida!
Heading into the historic PRIDE show at Japan's National Stadium,
the majority of the fans knew that the match between Hidehiko
Yoshida vs. Royce Gracie would be different from the rest. The
rules weren't publicly explained. Below are the 'official' rules
for the match:
- Both fighters put
on judo jacket.
- Two rounds-ten minutes each.
- No judges or ringside scoring.
- No extended rounds/overtime.
- Fight may go to draw.
- No attacks to head allowed.
- No attacks in ground position.
- Falling to mat with no contact is not allowed.
- No activity after 30 seconds results in standup.
The rule that is totally
unclear is 'No attacks in ground position'. I would take this
to be striking (not submission attacks).
By now fans are aware
of the controversy that happened after the match that resulted
in a prolonged dispute between fighters and promoters. Hopefully
this can be settled with a rematch.
To Yoshida's credit,
he took the microphone and stated that he didn't think that Royce
submitted and would gladly grant a rematch.
Source: Fightworld
Jhun
to fight Canadian fighter Stephan Potvin and Kolo Koka takes
on Pain Peters
at SuperBrawl/UCC STEPHAN POTVIN (4-3, Montreal,
Canada) of 454 Vale Tudo will go to war with "The Machine
Gun", Ronald Jhun (15-8, Honolulu, HI) of 808 Fight Factory.
Potvin shocked the MMA world when he dominated and defeated the
highly ranked Joe Doerksen at UCC 6 in what was considered to
be a huge upset by insiders.
Jhun recently signed with Super Brawl and has impressive wins
over Dave Strasser and UFC veteran, Pete Spratt.
Also in action PAIN PETERS (6-2, Brampton, Canada), will take
on Hawaiian up and comer Kolo Koka (3-2, Honolulu, HI).
Peters is renowned for his brash style and "take no prisoners"
attitude. Koka trains with Hawaiian sensation Egan Inoue and
recently took UFC/Pancrase veteran Shonie Carter the distance.
Source: T. Jay Thompson
SUPERBRAWL
& UCC Erupt in Hawaii!
Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii
Tuesday September 17th, 2002
SuperBrawl
Presents: The UCC!
On September
17th 2002, the Universal Combat Challenge will finally bring
its unique brand of intense MMA action south of the Canadian
border. Working in conjunction with two of the most recognizable
MMA promoters, Monte Cox and T.J. Thompson, the UCC will present
Hawaii's most popular talent against some of the UCC's top guns
as well as top talent from around the world. Athletes from Brazil,
France, Canada and the USA will all be at the Blaisdell Arena
for the fight of their lives.
The main event
will see a first in MAA history as UCC World Super Lightweight
champion WAGNNEY FABIANO (1-0, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) faces
#1 contender, BARET 'The Finisher' YOSHIDA (3-1, Honolulu, Hawaii)
currently ranked #4 in the world. This will see the first time
that two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belts compete for a world
title! These elite athletes are regarded as two of the best grapplers
out there but at UCC HAWAII we will find out who is the best
MMA fighter of the two!
UCC 6 veteran
ANTONY REA (1-0, Paris, France) and Team Extreme superstar RICH
FRANKLIN (7-0, Cincinnati, Ohio) will put their respective undefeated
streaks on the line in a light heavyweight challenge that will
be sure to ignite the UCC ring. Rea stunned UCC fans with a brutal
KO win over former UCC Canadian Light Heavyweight champion Jeromie
Sills and has been training hard for his UCC return ever since.
Franklin was victorious in his UCC debut and has his sights set
on gaining UCC gold and sees Rea as the next step to his goal.
Former UCC Canadian
Light Heavyweight champion JEROMIE SILLS (3-3, Niagara Falls,
Canada) will return to action as he faces Hawaii's MMA superstar
and Superbrawl standout FALANIKO VITALE (8-1, Honolulu, Hawaii).
Known as one of the most dangerous striker in the UCC, Sills
brings to the ring incredible strength and accuracy with his
fists as well as a solid wrestling background. Vitale is also
a gifted young athlete with lightning fast hands and slick ground
work that could end any fight in a blink of an eye. These powerhouses
are hungry for the KO and always put on a great show for the
fans. Look for this bout to be no different.
After two failed
attempts to compete for the UCC in Canada, LAVERNE CLARK (10-8,
Davenport, Iowa) will FINALLY enter the UCC ranks. Former UCC
World Middleweight champion DONALD OUIMET (4-1, Montreal, Canada)
will put his 17 plus years of boxing experience against the experienced
Clark. Clark's hands are a known factor in the MMA world as is
his wrestling abilities while Ouimet brings his stellar fists
and BJJ experience with him every time he fights. The fists will
fly when these super strikers go toe to toe in this Welterweight
ranking bout.
Also in action
will be highly ranked UCC warrior IVAN MENJIVAR (6-2, Zavateluca,
Salvador) taking on Hawaii's EDDIE YAGIN (6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii).
Menjivar proved that he is ready to take on top international
talent when he dismantled the experienced Jeff Curran at UCC
10 in Canada. Yagin has been raising a few eyebrows as of late
and this is his big chance to show the fight world what he has
to offer.
STEPHAN POTVIN
(4-3, Montreal, Canada) of 454 Vale Tudo will go to war with
Team Extreme's DREW McFEDRIES (1-1, Davenport, Iowa). Potvin
shocked the MMA world when he dominated and defeated the highly
ranked Joe Doerksen at UCC 6 in what was considered to be a huge
upset by insiders. McFedries has built a serious rep in the American
Midwest and showed his huge heart in his victorious UCC debut
at UCC 10. This will be Drew's biggest test yet as Potvin is
a hungry lion looking to regain prominence in the UCC ranks.
Also in action
PAIN PETERS (6-2, Brampton, Canada), KERRY SCHALL (7-3, Cincinnati,
Ohio), YAN PELLERIN (2-2, Sherbrooke, Canada), RICHARD CHOU (0-1,
Honolulu, Hawaii), BRENNAN KAMAKA (1-7, Honolulu, Hawaii) and
a fighter to be determined soon.
The Blaisdell
arena will see electricity like never before when it houses the
Universal Combat Challenge's ERUPTION IN HAWAII. Tickets go on
sale soon so don't be left out! This historic event will also
be telecast on Pay-Per-View in Canada and some awesome news will
come out of the UCC office shortly regarding a Pay-Per-View deal
in the United States!
For more info
on Hawaii's longest running MMA show, check out the SUPERBRAWL
WEBSITE!
